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Bangladesh wants global policy for climate change-induced displacement
Bangladesh has once again urged the international community to incorporate climate change induced “displacement” in the post-2015 development goals, saying the problem is “real”.
Published : 28 Jan 2015, 04:11 PM
Updated : 28 Jan 2015, 06:19 PM
Displacement is being considered globally as a national issue and that’s why those displaced due to climate change remain out of international help as they are not defined as refugees.
But Bangladesh, where thousands of people face displacement internally every year due to river erosion, is vocal in global forums to make it an international problem as the climate change is global phenomenon.
“The problem (displacement due to climate change) is real, it’s not futuristic,” Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque said on Wednesday at a roundtable.
“But there is nothing as of now about displacement in the post-2015 discussions,” he lamented.
The Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) organised the roundtable chaired by Chairman of its Board of Governors Munshi Faiz Ahmad at its auditorium.
The roundtable was organised ahead of a consultation meeting Dhaka will host this year as a steering group member of ‘The Nansen Initiative’.
The Initiative was officially launched in Oct 2012 by the governments of Switzerland and Norway.
It works on building consensus on the development of a protection agenda addressing the needs of people displaced across international borders due to disasters and the effects of climate change.
Recent studies showed that one in every seven people in Bangladesh would be displaced due to climate change by 2050.
The foreign secretary, however, asked all to stop talking about how many people would be displaced due to climate change.
“There will be movement (due to climate change). There will be displacement.
“It’s not a number game, even if five people are displaced that means they are affected we have to address it
“Let’s not debate whether people will be moved because of climate change. This is a fact now,” he said.
Envoy of the Chairmanship of the Nansen Initiative Prof Walter Kaelin presented a keynote paper on “Climate Change and Displacement: The Global Debate” at the roundtable.
He identified lack of coordination as a challenge in different global forums’ discussions.
Though he found political will in many countries, some states lacked the will. “They do not want to talk”.
But he said the encouraging thing was that “the train has left the station and if we all work together really hard the train will reach its destination”, referring to global discussions on climate change.
Action Aid Country Director Farah Kabir also lamented that there was policy lacking for displacement.
She mentioned about a family which was displaced 30 times due to river erosion in Bangladesh.
The fifth IPCC assessment summary for policymakers says climate change is projected to increase displacement of people.
Additional Secretary Mohammad Abdul Qayyum, National Project Director of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP), said environmental displacement must be an international problem.
“We have to act now,” he said.
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