I have just spent two weeks in Bonn, Germany attending the Subsidiary Bodies meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in preparation for the 27th Conference of Parties (CoP 27) to be held in Sharm Al Shaikh, Egypt in November this year. I have been participating in these meetings since 1992 and it is depressing to …

On February 28, the sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report (AR6) for Working Group II (WGII) was released, serving as the new basis for global policy-making on how to adapt to climate change. As one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change and a global leader in adaptation, Bangladeshi scientists should be at the forefront of …

Human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases have raised global temperatures, causing major impacts on Earth’s ecosystems and human society, as the first installment of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made unequivocally clear in August. The second installment of that report, released on February 28, makes the stark and game-changing revelation that these adverse impacts will …

Abstract Because of ethnic and cultural violence in Myanmar, approximately a million Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh starting from August 2017, in what the UN has called a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing”. Those arriving in Bangladesh were able to escape decade-long ethnic violence in Myanmar, but the Rohingya’s immediate destination, Cox’s Bazar district is one of the most climate-vulnerable …

Climate scientists recommend ways to boost the value of virtual conferences and reduce carbon footprints even when travel curbs ease. In 2018, social scientist Roger Tyers pledged to stop flying for work and leisure. Soon afterwards, he won a research fellowship that included fieldwork in China. So he decided to take the train from Southampton to Shanghai, a journey of …

This article is the second installment of a two-part series. As COVID-19 ravages Bangladesh’s economy, its inevitable impacts have exposed the many dysfunctionalities and loopholes of the country’s power sector. This article attempts to better understand how the pandemic has affected Bangladesh’s power sector and anticipates the role of renewable energy technology in paving climate-resilient, sustainable energy pathways. Part I tackles the …

This article is the first installment of a two-part series. As COVID-19 ravages Bangladesh’s economy, its inevitable impacts have exposed the many dysfunctionalities and loopholes of the country’s power sector. This article attempts to better understand how the pandemic has affected Bangladesh’s power sector and anticipates the role of renewable energy technology in paving climate-resilient, sustainable energy pathways. Part I tackles the …

In a time of many seemingly insurmountable challenges, there is something that we can fix. One thing, which if changed could simultaneously accelerate the end of hunger, ensure everyone has access to a healthy diet, dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reverse biodiversity loss, and make societies and economies more equitable and resistant to devastating pandemics such as COVID-19. Does that …

What makes people prefer one place over another? Liveability is a popular topic, but smaller cities are still left unexplored. Istiakh Ahmed from the International Centre for Climate Change and Development wonders what residents in coastal Bangladesh consider a liveable, even loveable city. “Living in Dhaka has become impossible; this city is not liveable at all”. Living in Dhaka for …

Under the UN, reduction of emissions(mitigation) and resilience (adapting to climate change impacts) are often treated as two discrete areas. But as the world is already experiencing the impacts of climate change — such as the recent ‘super cyclone’ and flooding in Bangladesh, or the wildfires in Australia — we are going to have to adapt our infrastructure to be …