Mobilising the UK Bangladeshi community for action on climate justice

Adriane Chalastra

Last Monday, several WDM representatives attended a seminar entitled “Mobilising the UK Bangladeshi Community for Action on Climate Justice”, where Tim Jones, WDM’s recently departed policy officer was one of the speakers. The event took place at the new City Hall building on Queen’s Walk. It was organised by the Bond Development and Environment Sub-group on Bangladesh and Climate Change, who organised the seminar to raise awareness about the issue of climate change and its impacts on Bangladesh, with a focus on how the Bangladeshi community in the UK can be mobilised to take action.

Bangladesh is one of the countries most seriously affected by climate change (impacted by nearly every effect of global, such as droughts, floods, and cyclones – really everything except for glacial ice melts!), yet it is one of the countries least responsible for causing climate change.

This seminar was held at an appropriate time, as just this week the World Bank’s Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR) released a new report for their strategies to integrate “climate resilience considerations into national development planning and implementation that are consistent with poverty reduction and sustainable development goals” in Bangladesh. Members of the World Bank are holding a meeting on 10 November to endorse further development of this plan.

While there are many community organisations and NGOs taking action on this issue, their resources are limited. This event allowed for a broader discussion, and for networking to take place between the Bangladeshi Diaspora community and various organisations and community leaders. There were four featured speakers, a short film, a panel discussion, and open questions from the floor.

The first speaker was Saleemul Huq, director of the New International Centre for Climate Change in Bangladesh, and who works for the International Institute for Environment and Development. Having been involved in the inter-governmental panels at both Kyoto and Copenhagen, he outlined the links between environmental degradation and development in the global south. He discussed Bangladesh’s strategies and action plan for dealing with climate change – a plan through which the Bangladeshi government has put $100 million, and another $100 million has been contributed by other countries through donations. He ended by reminding us about the importance of taking action and raising our voices.

Next, Tim Jones, former policy officer here at WDM, spoke about WDM’s Climate Debt campaign. He explained why it is so important that government aid be sent through the UN adaptation fund as grants, rather than through the World Bank as loans, which will just push poor countries further into debt. He also proposed key ways to access more aid money, such as through aviation taxes or taxing bank transactions.

Syed Enamul Islam, of the European Action Group on Climate Change in Bangladesh, then discussed the importance of community organisation and mobilization. He attends many forums and rallies, and discussed the resilience and involvement of the Bangladeshi people.

The final speaker was Will Tucker of Oxfam. Focusing on the importance of being political and taking action on climate change from a grassroots level, he brought the message back to the UK and hammered home the importance of reducing emissions here in Britain and taking part in community action.

The discussion session at the end featured four panellists including Mr. M. Allama Siddiki, Bangladesh’s Deputy High Commissioner; Ansar Ahmed Ullah, a member of the European Action Group on Climate Change in Bangladesh; Ben Hobbs of Christian Aid; and Sheeba Harma of Oxfam.

Much of this session resulted in people taking the opportunity to network, share experiences in mobilising the UK Bangladeshi community and hoping to create new partnerships and collaborations with the BOND Sub-group. The seminar succeeded in opening a dialogue about such an important issue and allowing people to begin making connections in order to take action in the future.