Published:  08:00 AM, 29 October 2024

Let’s Hope for Meaningful Action at The Upcoming COP 29 Summit in November 2024 in Baku

Let’s Hope for Meaningful Action at The Upcoming COP 29 Summit in November 2024 in Baku
 
Recently, I visited the Sreemangal area in Sylhet, Bangladesh, where my previous organization had a project with tea pickers. As a popular tourist destination, I enjoy visiting this place during my holidays. I spent nearly three days with tea pickers in their gardens, observing their work and understanding their daily food intake.

My former colleague helped me connect with locals who have lived there for generations. I discussed their observations of the changing environment. They shared that their work has become harder due to increased heat and more torrential rains. With climate change, meeting their daily tea leaf quota, always challenging, is now becoming almost impossible.

Climate change significantly impacts tea production due to various factors, such as temperature, and rainfall. Higher temperatures make workers feel overheated or suffocated, and also lead to more pests and diseases, which lower crop yield and tea quality. Rainfall is a critical factor for tea productivity, as soil needs good water retention to maintain both productivity and tea quality. Changes in rainfall even affect tea’s taste.

During my holiday in Sreemangal, I spent nearly 72 hours with Modhu Sud Bangshi, a tea picker with over 30 years of experience. He observed that heat and drought have steadily increased over his 46 years life. Last summer, he said it was so hot that he felt as if he were standing beside a kitchen stove and could hardly work. He had never experienced such conditions in his lifetime.

Sreemangal, the tea capital of Bangladesh, has traditionally enjoyed the lowest temperatures in the country due to year-round cooling rain. However, the weather pattern is changing. Last May, temperatures reached 39°C, and rainfall was nearly half the usual amount.

The area's hilly regions, rainforests, lakes, and picturesque tea gardens attract tourists. When I asked the hotel manager about recent tourist numbers, he said they are decreasing due to excessive heat. Tea gardens typically lack tall trees, so on sunny days, they feel like a furnace. Tourist business is slow, and they have already reduced staff due to losses.

I also asked Mr. Bangshi, my guide, for his thoughts on the changing climate. He smiled and replied that he didn't know. When I mentioned climate change, he recalled attending a workshop by an NGO that mentioned it, but he still wasn't clear on the concept. He concluded that they must be suffering due to a curse or because God is unhappy with them.

By the end of the century, the Earth’s temperature is predicted to rise by 2 to 4.5 degrees Celsius due to climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projects that sea levels could rise by 0.18 to 0.59 meters, or even 0.49 to 0.79 meters if polar ice melts alongside the global temperature increase. In Bangladesh, a 45 cm rise could flood nearly 10.9% of the land, displacing 5.5 million people from coastal areas.

Due to climate change, natural disasters such as tropical cyclones, river erosion, floods, landslides, and droughts will become more frequent and severe. Rising sea levels will eventually submerge Bangladesh's coastline, and river erosion will destroy infrastructure and farmland. These challenges will significantly impact the economy and development due to Bangladesh's unique geography, low elevation, dense population, high poverty, and reliance on natural resources.

The forced displacement of people across Bangladesh due to the loss of homes, land, property, and livelihoods would be one of the most severe impacts of climate change. Over the next 40 years, 18 million Bangladeshis are projected to be displaced by rising sea levels alone. Most of these people will be internally displaced, which poses significant challenges for the government in terms of housing and employment.

Climate change is already affecting several sectors in Bangladesh, including health, biodiversity, agriculture, food security, water resources, and coastal zones, worsening existing environmental and developmental issues. Increased rainfall during the monsoon season may lead to more flood-prone areas.

Bangladesh’s agricultural sector, which contributes around 20% of the GDP and employs 65% of the population, is expected to suffer greatly from climate change. Crop yields may decline by up to 30%, posing a high risk of hunger. Mr. Bangshi’s family grows rice on a small plot of land, but the yield is no longer sufficient, whereas it used to be adequate. Limited income and reduced crop cultivation due to erratic weather have left few options for nutritious food.

As I packed up to leave, Mr. Bangshi helped me load my belongings into my car. During our final conversation, he said, "Sir, we need a solution so we can live here as we used to." I had no words of assurance for him, as this ultimately depends on global leaders working to protect future generations. Let’s hope for meaningful action at the upcoming COP29 in November 2024 in Baku.


Mahiul Kadir, a development
activist and a columnist,
can be reached at [email protected]



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