Bangladesh is one of the very few countries in the world gifted by nature with six seasons. These seasons have so long given millions a taste of natural variety and provided food for thought to countless poets, writers and musicians. But sadly due to climate change, this is not likely to be in the days ahead.
One can easily appreciate the bounty of nature in Bangladesh when one goes to Indonesia or Malaysia where one encounters unfriendly heat. This writer still remembers his days in Jakarta when he was simply sweating in abnormally high temperature although he was wearing a thin Punjabi. The same thing had happened while he was in Kuala Lumpur. There is only one or two seasons in most of the countries across the world. You find either intolerable heat or extreme cold.
But the recent fears by top environmentalists in the country over changing nature of seasons in Bangladesh have to be taken very seriously. Will the authorities, dealing with climate fund, take a proper note of them? Will they come up with their transparent programmes to deal with the coming disaster? What have they done with whatever money they have so far received? There is still no public exposure of climate fund activities in Bangladesh.
The sudden visit of three western envoys last Monday to see for themselves the use of such funds in adaptation projects brings to the fore their concerns over the fallouts from climate change in Bangladesh. But they want to be sure that all the money that donors have given are properly used, not grabbed. Such international concerns are apparent as the development partners along with international financing institutions have already mounted pressure on Bangladesh for transparency on what the authorities do with aid money.
Even the former environment minister has found no progress over the last one year in receiving grant from donors to address climate change impacts. Bangladesh received US$ 100 million in foreign grants in four years when he was the environment minister, but there has been no progress over the last one year in receiving grants from the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF), he told a seminar in the capital. He did not, however, spell out the reasons for this. Or was it a gimmick to assert the point that things have stopped moving following his "exclusion" from the cabinet?
It is climate change that will cause a sea-level rise in the coastal regions of Bangladesh, leading to an increase in salinity in water and soil in the regions. Growth of standing crops (like rice, jute, sugarcane etc.) will be affected due to soil salinity, and this will limit overall crop production in the coastal regions as well as make the soil unsuitable for many potential crops.
The anti-graft watchdog Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) has already urged the government and concerned authorities to immediately address governance challenges relating to use of climate finance. It wants to reduce risks of corruption at different stages of project formulation, selection and implementation and disbursement of fund.
The TIB had pressed for this at the press launch of a study titled "Climate Finance in Bangladesh: Governance Challenges and Way Forward" in Dhaka. The report was prepared on the basis of the findings generated through monitoring of fund flow, tracking of projects -- one taken up by Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund (BCCTF) and another, by Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF).
The TIB also identified governance challenges in the approvals of and other related matters about projects submitted by non-government organisations (NGOs) and think-tanks by the Board of the BCCTF. It also assessed the quality of implementation of three selected projects under BCCTF funding. The study revealed a number of irregularities, nepotism and incidence of corruption at different stages of project formulation, selection of NGOs and implementation.
The TIB report revealed a number of challenges including faulty disclosure of information, nominal involvement of affected people in implementation process of projects, political influence in selecting contractors, violation of public procurement rules, lack of accountability and proper monitoring in project implementation, poor quality of construction and absence of accountability because of not putting effective complaint redress mechanisms in plan.
Apart from such irregularities, the study also identified project finance being disbursed as credit assistance, contrary to principles of climate finance.
If adaptation projects are not executed as per commitment, food security in Bangladesh will be at stake in the event of climate change striking it with full ferocity.
"Food security of the country is sure to be affected seriously, " said a meteorologist, who observed the changing temperatures, behaviour of rainfall and flow of winds. The country is one of the most densely populated ones on earth. It has more people to feed than geographically massive Russia.
Bangladesh is projected to be 0.5 to 0.20 Celsius (C) warmer than today by the year 2030. The 30-year mean summer temperature in Bangladesh is 27.50 C and it is relatively higher during the monsoon than during summer.
Winter is the driest season. The 30-year mean winter rainfall amounts to about 64mm with a variability of around 53 per cent. By 2030, the best estimate projection is for monsoon rainfall to increase by 10 to 15 per cent and winter rainfall by 5.0 to 10 per cent. Bangladesh is one of the top 10 nations most vulnerable to climate change. Environmentalists and experts recently called for integrating natural resource management, conservation and climate change into national planning and budgeting to ensure sustainable development in Bangladesh.
Due to climate change, humidity, wind flow, and temperature in Bangladesh will change. These three climatic mechanisms, in changing conditions, cause an increase in insects, pests, diseases and microorganisms in agriculture, and accordingly, crop production will decrease.
The production of potato, brinjal, lady's finger, tomato, cauliflower, sugarcane, groundnut, ginger, onion, garlic, banana, date, plum etc., will decrease. Increase of diseases, pests and insects will also affect transportation and storage of different crops and vegetable.
Less rainfall during winter due to climate change will lead to a decrease in moisture content of the topsoil, as well as less recharging of the ground water. Higher evaporation will cause drought-like conditions. In summer, increased precipitation will worsen the flood situation, which will have a negative effect on agriculture production
Climate change will lead to extreme weather, which will increase the burning or destruction of crops. Due to climate change, occurrence of tornadoes, cyclones and hailstorms will be greater than before. It will hamper the total agricultural production.
arjayster@gmail.com
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