Impact of climate change

It is heartening though that the regional initiative is being exercised to address the very fundamental issue of climate change, which according to many experts is the greatest challenge to our security which will challenge our very physical existence if not addressed immediately, and if the primary cause behind it, global warming caused by the greenhouse gas effect, is not tackled at the global level.

Global warming is now a reality and an inevitable consequence of the unbridled consumerism of the west, and as usual the third world and the poorer nations are at the receiving end of its harmful effects. It is the poor that are most threatened because of the unpredictability in the changing climate, and suffer most because they are the least equipped to face the impact. And of the developing regions Saarc will be the hardest hit by this phenomenon. Bangladesh in particular stands to suffer most the ill-consequences, with 17 percent of its land mass and 16 percent of its population likely to be affected by one meter rise in sea level due to global warming.

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Thus, if we are to offset its effects, apart from the global action under the Kyoto Protocol, we must ensure building up our capacities of predicting with some degree of accuracy the level and scope of changes in the climate. In this respect there is need for Saarc to network with the various research and forecast centres that have been established in various parts of the world. We should take the help of their databank and also their technological facilities to augment our capacity and for further capacity building at the local and regional level.

As for Bangladesh, given the threat we face, we must address this issue earnestly. Unfortunately, like many other pressing issues, research has been one of the major casualties of political turmoil in Bangladesh. But, apart from research and sharing of information, the likely effects of climate change must be disseminated among those most likely to be affected, and measures to reduce its effects must be formulated at the same time, lest we are caught off guard.