Climate refugees search for higher ground
In the hilly hamlet of Hoaikong in southeastern Bangladesh, villagers are used to welcoming new residents on a weekly basis.
The once-sparsely populated jungle, home to only a handful of tribal families, houses some 2,000 people who have sought higher ground as the island where they once lived becomes increasingly submerged by the sea.
Ex-fisherman Jaber Ahmed, who has turned his hand to farming in his new environment, says there are two camps of thought among islanders as to why they have had to migrate inland. “Some of us think that the land is sinking. Others say the sea is rising,” the 55-year-old says. “To be honest, I have no idea. All I know is we had to move our homes to survive.”
Ahmed moved from the island 10 years ago, and has watched former neighbours follow his lead. “I was one of the first here when my home on the edge of the island disappeared. Slowly more followed. Now it's happening more and more and our old island is disappearing under the sea.”
Ahmed's story is a familiar one along Bangladesh's southern coast, where locals and climate experts say that islands at the country's edge as well as its coastline along the Bay of Bengal are shrinking. Although the villagers say they do not know the exact cause of the problem, experts are more certain.
Scientistsincluding those from the United Nations Inter-government Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- say that the number of climate refugees will increase in Bangladesh in the coming years as rising sea levels devour low-lying coastal areas.
The plight of people like Jaber Ahmed has been at the top of the agenda for the Bangladeshi delegation during climate change talks from December 1-12 in Poznan, Poland.
Professor Atiq Rahman, a highly acclaimed Bangladeshi climate specialist, is among those who attended the summit. He says richer nations will be forced to open their countries up to climate refugees as land becomes scarce in the densely populated nation.
“Bangladeshis are already being displaced because of climate change. It's not happening in the distant future. It's happening now,” he says. “Being displaced is just one of the problems of rising sea levels. People will lose their livelihoods, food security will be under threat and so will water security.” Impoverished Bangladesh, says Rahman, is one of the lowest emitters of harmful carbon dioxide, but one of the worst affected by climate change.
The Nobel prize-winning IPCC, which Rahman was a member of, says there will be 20 million people like Jaber Ahmed by 2050 because of an increase of extreme weather conditions caused by climate change.
James Hansen, director of the US-based Nasa Goddard Institute for Space Studies, says Bangladesh's entire population will become environmental refugees by the end of the century because its entire landmass will be under water.
In September, the Bangladesh government launched a campaign against rich countries, saying that they needed to cough up billions of dollars to help it, one of the poorest nations in the world, fight climate change.
Britain, the only country to respond thus far, pledged £75 million, and called on all nations to thrash out a new global warming agreement.
About 8,000 delegates from 190 countries attended the Poland talks to discuss UN commitments beyond 2012, when pledges under the Kyoto Protocol expire, to be ratified in Copenhagen, Denmark next year.
The remote jungle of rural Bangladesh is a long way from the Polish capital, but farmer Jaber Ahmed says he hopes the world's leaders know about the problems people like him have faced.
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