Our cities not ready for climate migrants

Despite climate migration putting a new dimension in poverty distribution in both rural and urban areas, very little has been done to make the cities migrant-friendly, speakers at a discussion said yesterday.

With the probability of around ten million Bangladeshis becoming climate migrants by 2050 -- who likely to end up in Dhaka, a sound policy framework should be adopted to ensure efficient use of climate funds, they also said on the second day of a three-day climate change conference in the capital.

International Center for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD); Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) and Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) jointly organised the programme, titled “National Conference on Urban Resilience to Climate Change” at Institute of Architects Bangladesh conference centre in the city.

Mayors and officials of several city corporations and municipalities, city planners, climate activists, and officials from the Bangladesh office of German development agency GIZ attended different sessions of the day’s conference.

A total of five sessions on poverty-mitigation practices, urban street children, promotion of urban rainwater harvesting, role of municipalities in achieving sustainable development goals, and ways to survive from climate change were held on the day.

Guntram Glasbrenner, cluster coordinator of GIZ in Bangladesh, presented the keynote in the plenary session, where he spoke on the implementation of a GIZ project in five partner cities -- Barishal, Satkhira, Rajshahi, Sirajganj and Khulna.

The objective of the project is to improve living conditions of climate migrants, especially vulnerable people living in urban slums in those cities, he said.

Speaking as chief guest, Caren Blume, deputy head of development cooperation at the German embassy in Dhaka, said, “Maybe climate change is not the only reason to migrate, but this adds extra stress. That is why we look into hotspots, but we do not differentiate who are climate migrants and who are not.”

Tazkin Ahmed, mayor of Satkhira municipality, addressed the programme as special guest. “Of the 1.5 lakh people in Satkhira municipality, some 50-60 thousand people are climate refugee from Sundarban areas,” he said.

He urged donor organisations to stay aware of transparency in different projects funded by them, so that poor people get benefits.

Four more sessions will be held today as part of the conference at the same venue, where urban climate resilience award will also be handed to winners in the closing session.

Habibun Nahar, deputy minister of the ministry of environment, forest and climate change, is expected to attend the session with Dr Saleemul Huq, director of ICCCAD, in the chair.