Bangladesh, the nation that is in the danger of extinction from global warming and sea-level rising, has put up a new initiative to curb its pollution.

Reuters reports that with this initiative, any citizen will be allowed to file a case against polluters, and the Prime Minister’s press secretary said that offenders can be punished with jail time of up to five years and fine of half million taka (equivalent to $7,000). But because this is mostly directed towards the owners of major industries and businesses, the price that they have to pay may not affect them much.

Called the Environment Court Act 2010, if effective it could not only change practices that lead to climate change in Bangladesh, but may help save the Buriganga river found in the heartland of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. This river has been endangered through pollution as it’s effectively been used as Dhaka’s sewer dump and 80% of the toxic waste poured into it is untreated.

A World Bank report claimed that Bangladesh receives 1.5 million cubic meters of waste water every day from 7,000 industrial units, and 0.5 million cubic meters a day from other sources. Putting controls on this waste may help combat the premature deaths that occur among Bangladeshi children because of pollution.

“The Cabinet gave the final approval to the draft law to help take stringent measures against the polluters of environment. Many persons took lease of vast lands in the name of rubber cultivation, but made cottage for their luxuries. Prime Minister directed concerned authorities to stop such practices,” Abul Kalam Azad, Press Secretary to the Prime Minister told journalists at a press briefing.

The mobile courts throughout the country would be in charge by the hierarchy held in Dhaka, so that anyone who has seen any misuse of land through pollution can report to the government at any time.

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The government is committed to building a country whose citizens are able to live prosperous and happy lives. The year 2021 will mark the golden jubilee of Bangladesh??s independence, while the year 2020 will be the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

We envision a democratic system where people choose their government freely and get services from it without hassle, enjoy freedom from fear and intolerance, live with dignity; where every citizen is assured of social justice, environmental protection, human rights and? equal opportunities; and where the rule of law and good governance flourish.? We envision a liberal, progressive and democratic welfare State. Simultaneously we envision a Bangladesh which by 2020/2021, will be a middle income country where poverty will be drastically reduced where, our citizens will be able to meet every basic need and where development will be on fast track, with ever-increasing rates of inclusive growth.

Bangladesh as we want to see it in 2021

1. Democracy?and effective parliament

Democracy and strong democratic institutions will be established for holding reliable election at regular intervals, accountability of government and effective Parliament. All necessary steps will be taken for making Parliament effective.

2.?Political framework, decentralization of power & people??s participation

Local government will be given due importance with a view to effecting radical change of the political system. The local government institutions will play a critical role in development programmes. Self-reliant local self-government institutions will be established at upazila and zila levels to ensure representative, responsive and functional governance at the grassroots levels.

3.?Good governance through establishing rule of law and avoiding political partisanship

Human rights will be established on a strong footing with a view to ensuring the rule of law. Independence of the judiciary will be ensured and the institutions of the state and administration will be freed from partisan influence. The basis of appointments and promotions will be merit, efficiency, seniority, honesty and loyalty to the Republic; political connections will have no relevance.

4.?Transformation of political culture

Terrorism, corruption and use of religion for politics will be eliminated. Steps appropriate to the time will be taken to establish democratic principles in the political parties, transparency of political funding, civility and tolerance.

5.?A society free from corruption

The institutions of the State will be made more effective along with an independent and strong Anti-corruption Commission for curbing corruption. Social resistance to corruption will be promoted along side legal steps. All possible steps will be taken to stop corruption, such as charter of citizens?? rights, right to information, computerization of official documents, and decentralization of power. Adequate checks at every level of public spending would be built into the financial management system of the government.

6.?Empowerment and equal rights for women

The Women??s Policy of 1997 will be revived for ensuring equal right and access for women to the state and social space; laws which discriminate against women will be amended and 100 seats will be reserved for women for direct election.

7.?Economic development & initiative

a.?Meeting basic needs: With a view to providing food, clothing, shelter, education and health care to the citizens in accordance with Article 15 of the Constitution, gross domestic product will be raised to 8% by 2013 and 10% by 2021 which will be sustained thereafter.

b.?Population and labour force: Population in 2021 is estimated at 165m, and labour force at 105m. Programmes will be taken up for employment of at least 85% of the work force.

c.?Alleviation of poverty: We aim not at reduction of poverty, but removal of poverty, through?which we shall try to achieve the Millennium Goals declared by UN by 2015, and by 2017 latest. Beginning in 2021, poverty will be reduced to 15% from 45% now, progressively. Number of poor people will rise from 45 million now to 65m in 2021, and then fall to 25m in 2021. Sustainable safety nets will be established for the extreme poor until poverty is removed.

d.?Food & nutrition: Food deficiency will be removed and self-reliance in food production achieved by 2012, which will enable us to meet the nutrition needs of 85% of the population.

e.?Health care: By 2021, a minimum daily intake of 2,122 kilo calories of food, elimination of contagious disease, primary health care and sanitation for all will be ensured. Average longevity will be increased to seventy years, and efforts will be made for the reduction of child and maternal mortality.

f.?Education: Enrolment at the primary level will be increased to 100% net by 2010. Elimination of illiteracy by 2014, improvement in the quality of education, creation of a generation educated in science and technology, graduation degree level education made free by 2013 and ensuring higher salary for teachers are the other educational goals.

g.?Industry: A strong foundation for industrialization will be established by 2021. Contribution of the industrial sector to national GDP will be doubled. Primacy will be given to agro and labour intensive industries and the highest emphasis will be given to the information technology sector. The investment policy will be geared to implementing a strategy for attracting both domestic and foreign investment.

h.?Energy security: An energy policy will be adopted tapping all sources of traditional and non-traditional energy to ensure an accelerated rate of economic development and industrialization. A three year crash programme will be taken up to meet the existing crisis. By 2015, electricity production will be increased to 8,000 megawatt. By 2021, demand for electricity is projected to increase to 20,000 megawatt. We will take all possible actions aiming at enhancing our generation capacity. To increase gas production, regular survey of gas resources and work on well development will be undertaken. To meet energy demand, efforts will be undertaken for regional energy security through mutual cooperation in addition to exploring internal sources.

i.?Infrastructural development: Road, rail, river and air transport and telecommunication systems will be expanded. Construction of bridges and tunnels for Padma and Karnaphuli rivers, connecting Bangladesh with the Asian highway and Asian railway, improvement of port facilities, building of a deep sea port to open up Bangladesh’s ports to countries of Asia will be implemented. In Dhaka, construction of a metro tunnel, elevated rail and circular rail to remove traffic jams and to solve public transport problems will be studied forthwith in order to undertake a feasible project. The project will then be implemented on a priority basis.

j.?Housing: By 2015, housing for all will be ensured. In every union and upazila, ??growth center?? centric village housing and in towns housing with modern amenities will be implemented.

k.?Environment: All measures will be taken to protect Bangladesh, including planned migration abroad, from the adverse effects of climate change and global warming. Facing natural calamities, planned reduction of air pollution, prevention of industry and transport related air pollution and disposal of waste in scientific manner will be ensured. Steps will be taken to make Bangladesh an ecologically attractive place through retention of forests and water bodies and prevention of river erosion.

l.?Water resources: Bangladesh Awami League will take the initiative to formulate a comprehensive regional water policy along with India, Nepal and Bhutan for regional water security. In addition, in keeping with a comprehensive water policy, articulated earlier by Bangladesh Awami League, measures will be taken for development of our water resources and their rational use.

8.?Bangladesh in the global arena

a.?Achievements of liberation: Multi-pronged measures will be taken to uphold the glorious history and the fruits of our national independence and liberation, to energize the new generation with the spirit of liberation, struggle, patriotism and love for humanity. Highest priority will be given to the development of an?innovative spirit in the younger generations and opportunity will be provided for them to participate in nation building activities.

b.?Culture: Measures will be taken to remove obstacles in the development of Bengali culture, literature, art, music and sport and to provide all opportunities by the state to enable the younger generations to attain international standards and to contribute to the nation.

c.?Foreign policy: In international affairs Bangladesh will follow the policy of ??friendship towards all and malice towards none??.

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Chittagong, Bangladesh (Sources) — Rizwana Hasan is a divisive figure in Bangladesh. Heralded by some as an eco-pioneer, a labor rights campaigner and a “take no prisoners” lawyer, she also is characterized as being on a mission to destroy an industry that employs thousands.

Her works focuses on the effects of the ship-breaking industry in Chittagong. Each year hundreds of massive tankers, ferries and cargo ships from around the world are driven onto the mud flats in Chittagong, and then literally attacked by hundreds of men armed with little more than hammers, cutters and brute-force.

They strip the ships for their scrap metal, salvaging what they can, discarding what they can’t. Rizwana is the executive director of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA) and has been fighting the industry for decades. BELA has launched numerous legal challenges against the shipyards, which it claims don’t care about the environment or the safety of their employees.

“All these ships contain very hazardous materials like asbestos, PCBs, and they are in-built in the system, so in a country like Bangladesh we do not have technologies to deal with this sort of hazardous substance,” Rizwana Hasan told CNN.

“There is a huge amount of waste oil and water that are eventually released into our coastal environments. In the process our soil gets contaminated, the fishery gets contaminated, the air gets polluted. And we are all inhaling it without knowing the effect of it,” she said.
The issue of worker safety also is a concern.

The casualties of the trade are easy to find — Mohammed Murad worked in ship-breaking for 10 years until a 20-ton slab of metal fell on his leg last year. He says that, with Rizwana’s help, he got some compensation, but the company had originally refused to pay anything after he lost his leg.

“It’s too dangerous, too dangerous. The company doesn’t give us any security,” Murad said. “They tell us to do it quickly, to cut quickly, If you die in the field, no problem, but you have to work quickly.”

There are 78 ship-breaking yards scattered along the Chittagong coast. As we found out when we traveled there, most are hidden from the road, often unmarked at the end of small lanes from the highway. The staff was unwilling to let us film inside or talk to the owners.

Last year, Rizwana says some 160 ships were dismantled in the yards — a process described as ship recycling by the International Maritime Organization, a U.N. agency responsible for maritime safety and preventing pollution from ships. Rizwana calls it an “old boys club” for the industry.

Rizwana grew up in a politically active family and after completing her masters at age 24 she joined BELA, rising to become one of the country’s leading lawyers and the association’s director. In 2009 she was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental prize.

Rebuffing accusations from critics, she insists she does not want the ship-breaking industry to shut down. She realizes its importance as a source of employment, money and its potential as a good recycling initiative.

But she is determined that it should operate responsibly and within the law. She says ships containing hazardous material, such as asbestos, need to have these substances removed before they arrive in Bangladesh. She says the country simply doesn’t have the facilities to deal with them. In March 2009 Bangladesh’s Supreme Court ruled that ships entering the country for decommissioning must be “pre-cleaned” in line with The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, known more simply as the Basel Convention.

The international treaty was designed to reduce the movements of hazardous waste between nations. Under the treaty, a country must not allow the export of a ship containing hazardous materials if it suspects that the waste will not be properly dealt with by the ship-breaking country.

Dr. Nikos Mikelis from the International Maritime Organization agrees that the ship-breaking industry needs better regulation but says it performs a vital role in Bangladesh, providing valuable jobs.

“It’s a benefit to the country, all that is missing is order and order can brought by suitable regulation and enforcement. I believe it can be done. You don’t close down the industry because it’s not doing correctly now, you adjust it,” Mikelis said.

According to Rizwana, the problem is that in countries like Bangladesh, rules such as the Basel Convention are not always observed and not applied to the ships themselves, only to their cargo. She maintains that ships often are re-registered in “flag of convenience” countries before being sent to Chittagong, with few checks about what hazardous substances are contained within the equipment and superstructure of the vessel.

While Rizwana has won a number of key legal battles, she says many of the shipyards’ bad practices continue, with new yards opening each year. Her opponents at the yards themselves remain acutely angry with her — so much so that she feels it would be unsafe for her to even travel to Chittagong. But Rizwana says simply shining a spotlight on the industry is an achievement in itself.

“We have been able to give a bad name to the industry, and the industry deserves a bad name,” she said.

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Population is a prime and significant element to form a state as well as an asset of a nation. But over population in comparison with land space is a big threat to the social development and principle obstacles in the way of advancement, development and enlightenment of a country. Population programs and activities are jointly a major part of development programs in every state of the world. Human beings are inseparable part of our society and society has a pragmatic and positive influence over its population. Therefore social influence as well as social partnership needs to be integrated to make a holistic approach with a view to creating spirit in sustainable population control programs and activities. Population explosion is a nation as well as a global concern and it was addressed nationally as a prime and first problem at post independence era in Bangladesh. Thereafter population control activities were rightly added to first five years planning’s since 1973-1978 to squeeze the population growth momentum by adapting plural measures both rural and urban areas. In the way of this succession, Family planning directorate was constituted in 1973 by the then government with a long standing missions and visions to combat the population explosion through pragmatic policy adaptation and co-ordination.

But lack of proper atention and efforts towards population control programs and activities nation wide by every government is truly unfortunate to us as well as to nation. Mean while, a ray of hope was seen in population program and policies, when an integrated and efficient commitee was formed at early of 1976 by the then government to compose a pro people and healthy population policy and finally it was drafted and approved by the then cabinet at the ending stage of 1976. In accordance with the policy frame work, population control program was rapidly advanced due to entire commitment and dedication of family planning workers to their services as well as to nation.

They have achieved some remarkable success knocking door to door from providing service delivery among the eligible couples.

Family planning contraceptive practice rate (CPR) was 8% in middle of 1970 and this practice rate was rapidly increased due to adaptation as well as to start implementation process 6 of population policy across the country.

Now this CPR (Contraceptive practice Rate) is around 57%. Equally, TFR (Total Fertility Rate) was 6.3 in the year of 1975 and was declined to 2.5 after 34 years of adapting population policy. Population growth rate was 3 (per thousand) in middle of 1970); now this growth rate has hopefully declined to 1.4 (per thousand).

These all are hopeful scenario in the history of population control by family planning directorate. But these successive outcomes have already failed to create harmonious development atmosphere within our society due to discontinuation population activities as per population policy.

In era of globalization, Bangladesh population has drawn positive-considerable atention of demographers, policy planners, social scientists and International aid agencies.

In global context, Bangladesh is now world’s eighth populas country with 149.4 million people (14 crores and 94 lac population) but occupying only only 3,000th part of the world’s land space.

Such a huge concentration of population in small land area can not but draw global atention only. About 1.8 (18 Lac people) million people are currently adding to its existing population yearly and such a trend will continue in next one decade and half.

Even if Bangladesh achieves 2 child family norm (that means TFR of 2.1 or NNR=1) by 2020. Bangladesh requires a visionary commitment to the nation in the field of population programs and activities to enrich family planning action plan and should turn its activities into social movement through active participation of different stake holders of our society.

China has achieved sustainable success on population disorders by adapting integrated and visionary population policy as well as introducing one child family norm with a state package benefit Now- a days China belongs one fifth population of the world. But their population growth momentum and population density are still quite less than Bangladesh population map. According to population analytical report of UNFPA, when China and India will have 700 and 310 crores of people respectively, their density of population will be equal to the present density of population in Bangladesh.

Keeping in view this demographic scenario, let us think how alarming condition we have in terms of population pressure.

Certainly, this hard core demographic scenario of our big population would create adverse impact on health, education, food security, habitation, sanitation, environment, poverty and unemployment The way of harmonious development of our society would be collapsed due to high redundant of population in our country.

Thus a sustainable as well as global out look population policy is rightly demand of time to the nation. Population policy was initially composed in 1976 but had no continuation with prolonged beter commitment

In the way of policy adaptation, another population policy was

Composed in 2004 in order to achieve Replacement level fertility and Neat Reproductive Rate (NRR) =1 by 2010. But the practice rate of this method among the couples is around 55.8% now. Keeping in view this above information, Replacement Level Fertility and NRR=1 has already been failed to achieve the above goal. So, a long standing, pro people with visionary population policy should be drafted along with demographers, social scientists and different stake holders of our society to include pragmatic measures within population policy frame work with a view to squeezing population map rapidly in Bangladesh.

I have some recommendations which might be considered or taken out by the government at the time of drafting and approving population policy. These are stated as follows—-

A good number of ministries are working with the government executive body to implement government’s planning’s and polices but no separate ministry is even now constituted to resolve this hyper population growth momentum which has already been identified prime and first problem in Bangladesh. Health and family welfare ministry is a major organic part of the government body and has been designed to monitor & implement for both health and Family planning programs and policies across the country. But unfortunate truth Family planning directorate is working without proper atention of the government in comparison with health wing. So Government should constitute a separate ministry on family planning programs, policies and activities in order to create dynamism in population control programs and activities. If this is possibly undone, at least a family planning division might be opened or restructured under a full flagged secretary. China has achieved a remarkable and meaningful success in population control with regard to reconstituting a separate entity like an individual ministry on planning’s and policies of population control and human development Indonesia has also constituted an individual entity like China to face the challenges of population growth momentum. They are positively advanced and achieved beter success.

National Institute of population Research and Training (NIPORT), a government body, was constituted with a view to researching on population programs, policies, training and planning’s as well as the way out for implementation. But this institute has now become dysfunctional and dead due to negative impact of unification or reunification of health-family sector once again by the government

So, effective and positive steps need to be taken to reconstitute NIPORT with national spirit and global facilities as a research and training wing of family planning division.

National population council (NPC) is the apex body of population programs policies and activities, headed by the prime minister, was designed to monitor and execute the GO-NGO activities on population. But we are unfortunate and deprived of geting proper atention and priorities from every chief executive of the state on population sector to resolve this national problem. The present government has passed more than one year in power but no national meeting or seminar was held by initiation of prime minister along with different and efficient stake holders of the society to enhance family planning action plan as well as population consizing activities. The sooner (National Population Council) it can be made fully functional and create enabling environment for other ministries to play their respective role as envisaged in the national population policy, the beterment for the nation. So, government needs to adapt plural measures in this regard with more atention and devotion.

Family Planning programs and activities should be kept on going with an individual philosophy and policy without making any unification of health-family planning sector by the government Integration or reintegration of family planning movements with the health sector must be an unwise decision which is certainly be declined the internal spirit of family planning movements in Bangladesh. 15 years have been lost in the way of counter political decisions in the field of family planning as well as population control and human development The whole nation has suffered immensely in this regard.

Population control is a prime national concern, an liberate arena and requires a holistic approach to combat population growth momentum from urban to rural in Bangladesh. The government is not individually feasible and viable to face the challenges of population magnitude and pressure on our land as well as our society. So, an intensive GO-NGO collaboration is highly required in order to make a stationary population in Bangladesh before our national goal. Every national-International NGOs in Bangladesh should have policy programs to open a separate wing on population-nutrition to face this national problem jointly otherwise this high population growth must bring social disorders in every singular branches of our society.

After inception of family planning department, Family Welfare Assistants (FWA) is providing basic and comprehensive service delivery among the eligible couples and adolescents from door to door, all over the country. They have pioneering roles and responsibilities to give away the messages among the 15 to 40 age groups of using local contraceptives and others measures to make two child family norm as well as to make a small size of

Population in our country. FWA (Family Welfare Assistant) was assigned officially to provide service delivery among 300-400 couples but with the passage of time and growth of population, the number of couple volume has become bigger and FWA workers are to provide service delivery among 1,800-2,000 couples now. This is quite a difficult task for a single FWA. So, a good number of FWA workers should immediately be appointed to provide home service delivery including contraceptives, medicine, injection as well as awareness on maternal and child health efficiently for beter outcomes.

These all are pragmatic outlines to combat population explosion. The government might consider these recommendations at the time of drafting population policy to make a stationary population as well as to turn the population into human resources.

The people of Bangladesh have started feeling the pinch for it’s over population. And various pressures have already been generated upon every branches of our society. Our society is facing plenty of social disorders with its 148 million people (around 15 crores people) right now. So, achieving population stabilization is early required for our existence. The timing of population stabilization depends on the time when replacement level fertility will be achieved. In our present population management context, if Bangladesh can achieve NRR=1 by 2016, population will be stabilize by 2070 at around 230 million people (23 crores people), followed by a stationary population in next 14-16 years (Stationary population means number of births will be equal to number of death and resultant growth rate is zero). The status of stationary population might be achieved around 2087 and thereafter the population will grow up to 250 million people ( 25 crores people). If we like to build up a poverty free, educated as well as knowledge based healthy society, government needs to take concerted efforts in population management strategies with more atention and devotion.

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Climate Change Trust Fund Act, 2010

The government will promulgate an act to use climate change fund judiciously and transparently so that benefits reach the affected people properly.Bangladesh is one of the most precarious countries facing climate change. People of this country must be protected from its consequences. Therefore, we are moving forward on this law,” Abul Kalam Azad, press secretary to the prime minister’s office, told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

The government has already allocated Tk 7 billion to build this fund, Azad said.

The cabinet approved the draft Climate Change Trust Fund Act, 2010. The draft will soon be finalised and sent to the law ministry for vetting.

Earlier on August 24, the cabinet approved Climate Change Trust Fund, which was supposed to be registered under the Bengal Trust Act 1882.

?The law ministry suggested us to make a law in this regard since general people are the beneficiaries,? Environment and Forest Secretary Mihir Kanti Barua told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said the act is needed to bring the entire process–from generating fund to approval of projects and use of the fund through a trustee board–under a strong legal coverage.

He said 66 percent of the fund would be spent on six designated areas marked under Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan while 34 percent would be in bank for crisis situation.

The prime minister told the meeting that apart from assistance from international agencies and countries, Bangladesh has taken various steps on its own to face the adverse impacts of global climate change.

?Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. The government has moved to make the act to protect people and their property from the adverse effects of climate change,? said Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad after the meeting.

He said the government has already allocated Tk 700 crore for the fund. The Ministry of Environment and Forests would allocate the fund to relevant NGO projects.

Ainun Nishat, senior adviser on climate change for the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Asia, said Bangladesh should prepare for judicious utilisation of the fund.

?Huge local and foreign fund will be channelled to the trust. Therefore, a mechanism is needed for the fund management,?

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CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh ? Bangladesh’s ship breaking yards ground to a halt Monday as some 30,000 workers protested a government decree aimed at improving environmental standards in the industry, police said.

Under a government order issued in late January said, ships heading for breaking yards must now be certified as toxic chemical-free before they are imported and scrapped.

“Ship breakers are demanding the order be reversed and 30,000 ship breaking workers are protesting with a massive rally in the centre of Chittagong,” said local police chief Monirul Islam, referring to Bangladesh’s second-largest city.

The order comes after a boom year for ship breakers, with the number of yards growing to around 100 from just 40 in early 2009 and turnover hitting a record 700 million dollars.

With no natural iron ore deposits, Bangladesh is dependent on recycled steel for its fast-growing economy. Some 45 percent of the world’s ship breaking happens on the southeastern Sitakundu coast.

“The government order is tantamount to a death sentence for the industry,” said Jafar Alam, head of the Bangladeshi ship-breakers association.

“Tens of thousands of workers will lose their jobs because of the order,” he said.

The industry employs an estimated 40,000 people.

Activists hailed the government’s order as the “biggest achievement in many years” in their battle to enforce environmental and work safety standards in the yards.

“Now the yards cannot import ships that contain deadly toxic waste like asbestos, mercury and PCPs,” said Mohammad Ali Shaheen, the local head of the rights group coalition, NGO Platform on Ship Breaking.

“It will ensure the safety of the workers who were made to clean up these pollutants with their bare hands. The government has proved that it’s stronger than the ship breakers and I hope it won’t back off from this stand.”

Last year, 26 people were killed at the ship breaking yards, a figure that charities call a huge underestimate, as it only counts on-site accidents and does not include workers who were laid off after being made ill by toxic chemicals.

Ships heading for Bangladesh routinely contain chemicals banned in many developed countries such as asbestos.
…
It is stated by the environment and forest ministry that government officials would examine the ships to issue cleaning certificates at this end. What we can understand is that the responsibility of whether a ship carries toxic substances would now critically and entirely, devolve on our officials. Of course, these would have to be examined at our end; by all means do it; but would it not have been a fail-safe mechanism if the pre-cleaning certificates were produced by the exporters to do an effective cross-checking with? We feel that the relaxation of the rule could spawn manipulation, and even corruption, even though the environment ministry seems determined not to allow intrusion of hazardous vessels in to our maritime territory .

As it is, a large number of ship breaking yards themselves have no clearance certificates; yet they are operating with impunity risking all sorts of hazard to 30,000 workers and posing economic risks to their dependents.

Clearly, government’s compliance with the High Court directives to formulate necessary ship-breaking laws in conformity with Bangladesh’s obligations under international conventions and her own environment conservation act and rules has been long overdue

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The Bangladeshi government objects to grant money being channelled through the World Bank, which it says will attach unfavourable “strings and conditions”

“The UK must be careful not to fall into the pattern of its former colonial ways by imposing conditions on an independent country. The World Bank is a deeply mistrusted institution that through its lending to developing countries has increased inequality, carbon emissions and debt in those countries.”
The Bangladeshi government is refusing to accept a ?60m donation from Britain to help it cope with the impact of global warming, because of a dispute over how the money will be provided.

Officials in the Department for International Development (Dfid) are insisting that the money, part of a pledge to provide developing countries with climate finance, is channelled through the World Bank. Bangladesh has objected to the role of the bank, which it says will attach unfavourable “strings and conditions”.

Britain is expected to press Bangladesh to change its mind at a two-day meeting in the country starting tomorrow. If it refuses, the money may be withdrawn. The row comes days after Gordon Brown accepted a UN offer to co-chair an advisory group responsible for climate change financing.

“If this money is channelled through the World Bank and the IMF it will attract strings and conditions which are not favourable to Bangladesh”, said a spokesman for the Bangladeshi government. “If the money goes [via the bank] then it does not go to its real purpose. [We] want it to go through the UN.”

The Guardian revealed last summer that under the UK plan, known as the Multi Donor Trust Fund for Climate Change, ?4.9m of the pledge will not reach Bangladesh but will be siphoned off by the bank as administration costs.

Campaigners from the World Development Movement (WDM), Jubilee Debt Campaign and Friends of the Earth plan to protest tomorrow at Dfid over the UK proposals. They are also concerned that further payments planned for Bangladesh are loans, the repayment of which they say will force the country further into debt.

A group of 30 British and Bangladeshi campaign groups has suggested an alternative mechanism under which Bangladesh would distribute all the money through a national board.

Md Shamsuddoha, a campaigner with Justice and Equity Bangladesh, said: “Channelling climate funds through the World Bank is a trickery of the British government to weaken the argument for channelling funds through the United Nations or national funds. Developing countries are opposing involvement of the World Bank in the management of climate finance because of its long history of imposing economic conditions on developing countries, fuelling unjust debts and promoting dirty development.”

The ?60m fund has also drawn criticism from the Bangladesh government because it will be paid from within existing Dfid budgets, potentially draining resources from other projects. Britain has pledged several times that such climate finance should be provided on top of existing aid commitments.

A Dfid spokesperson said: “The government of Bangladesh will have full control over how the fund will be spent, with the World Bank simply administering the money. This approach is a tried and tested financial mechanism that ensures UK investment is used effectively.

“The World Bank has a proven track record of administering funds on behalf of contributing donors and recipient governments.”

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This map shows total carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel burning, cement production, and gas flaring for the world's countries in 2000. Emissions are expressed in million metric tons of carbon. The map was created by a team of climate and health scientists led by Jonathan Patz, associate professor of environmental studies and population health sciences at UW-Madison. Map courtesy the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.

In a recent chilling assessment, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that human-induced changes in the Earth’s climate now lead to at least 5 million cases of illness and more than 150,000 deaths every year.

Temperature fluctuations may sway human health in a surprising number of ways, scientists have learned, from influencing the spread of infectious diseases to boosting the likelihood of illness-inducing heat waves and floods

AS the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Copenhagen draws closer, it is worthwhile to review once again what is at stake for us and to clearly articulate the position that Bangladesh needs to take in the various phases of negotiations. The prime minister will attend the Convention, which may well define the fate of our country in the near future, and is expected to present the case of Bangladesh and similar countries that will be affected in various ways by climate change.

One reason the citizens of Bangladesh consider this Convention so important for our future is that it might set the tone for the development strategy we will pursue for transition to a low carbon economy, and the support we can expect to receive from the global community to adopt low-carbon technologies and to combat the deleterious effects of global warming.
Bangladesh group calls for int’l environment court
The Bangladesh-based Citizen Network on Climate Change is calling for an international court on the environment.

The pressure group, at an open meeting in Dhaka this week, also stressed that the public must have a say on climate change plans at policy level.

Short and long term measures must ensure policy makers were more accountable to the public with respect to measures for combating the grave outcome of global warming, said the group.

They also asked their government to clarify Bangladesh’s stand in the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Conference, alongside ensuring the participation of common people in setting policy regarding climate change.

Calling for an international environmental court, they said it was urgent for checking the nations most responsible for climate change, they said.

The court would try environmental crimes and take steps against guilty states or companies responsible for high emissions and other forms of global pollution so that affected countries could get compensation, said the group.

Power of the most influential states must also be curtailed to prevent them from vetoing any lawful decision regarding global climate change, they said.

The idea of an international court for the environment has also been proposed by concerned groups in other countries in the lead-up to the Copenhagen conference this December.

A group of UK lawyers are leading a campaign for a body, similar to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, that would be the supreme legal authority on issues regarding the environment.

They also suggest that the first role of the new body would be to enforce international agreements on cutting greenhouse gas emissions set to be agreed in December.

The UN Conference of Parties (COP15) in Copenhagen next month aims to secure a new agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol. Developing countries are looking to developed nations to commit to cutting emissions drastically.

The Bangladesh group, in its meeting this week, also called for a UN commission on climate change to push for adoption of environment friendly technologies, among other measures.

International efforts need to be reinforced to explore renewable alternative fuels and technologies and their availability to poor and vulnerable countries, said the group.

They also called on their government to adopt feasible short term and long term strategies to ensure rehabilitation, food security and health care for the affected population.

The public meeting was chaired by executive director of INCIDIN Bangladesh, AKM Mostaque Ali, at the organisation’s office on Sunday.

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GLOBAL WARMING issue is one of the most concentrable issue. The current recession was unexpected and the economy is going down everyday….same the preperarion for global warming facts should? innitiated.

Bangladesh tops the 2009 Global Climate Risk Index, a ranking of 170 countries most vulnerable to climate change compiled by Germanwatch, an international nongovernmental organization that works on environment and development issues. The nation is particularly at risk because it is a vast delta plain with 230 rivers, many of which unstably swell during the monsoon rains. This geology, combined with river water from the melting Himalayan glaciers in the north and an encroaching Bay of Bengal in the south, makes the region prone to severe flooding. The situation is made worse by the prevalence of intense storms, a marker of climate stresses. Sidr, the Category 4 cyclone that ravaged southern Bangladesh in November 2007, killed some 3,500 people, displaced 2 million, and wiped out paddy fields. Sidr was followed by two heavier-than-normal floods that killed some 1,500 people and damaged about 2 million tons of food. The United Nations warns that a quarter of Bangladesh’s coastline could be inundated if the sea rises 3 feet in the next 50 years, displacing 30 million Bangladeshis from their homes and farms. If that happens, the capital, Dhaka, now at the center of the country, would have its own sea promenade.

Bangladesh has so far invested more than $10 billion to reduce vulnerability to natural disasters by building embankments and cyclone shelters. But it needs billions more to build similar infrastructure in the next 15 years to mitigate the threats, along with enhancing research on climate-resistant agriculture. Compounding the problem are predictions that the accelerated loss of Himalayan ice fields, which flow into rivers providing the main source of fresh water for Bangladesh, may lead to catastrophic drought in less than a generation. At a press conference in Dhaka in November, United Nations Secretary General Ban ki-Moon exhorted developed countries to not let the global financial crisis impede efforts to fight climate change. “The leaders of the developed countries should not neglect the issue of global warming,” he said.

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