Introduce green economy to cope with climate impacts
Says eminent environmentalist Dr Atiq Rahman
Considering the country's extreme vulnerability to the effects of climate change, an integrated green economy system needs to be introduced to cope with the challenge.
The suggestion came from eminent environmentalist Dr Atiq Rahman, whose accomplishments in the field were recognised by the UN in 2008.
“Although the developed countries are highly responsible for increasing global warming, the developing countries will have to initiate adaptation programme from their own resources by introducing an integrated green economic system,” he told the news agency in an interview.
A green economy is an economy or economic development model based on sustainable development and knowledge of ecological economics.
Defining the green economy system, Dr Atiq said the total process of the country's economy will have to be brought under an integrated process where external and internal cost of production will be included.
Now the country's industrial sector has been disposing the industrial wastes and toxic substance without managing these, which poses a great threat to ecosystem, water bodies as well as environment, he said.
He stressed the need for installing Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) in all industries to save the country's environment apart from facing the impacts of climate change.
“Three matters will have to be taken into consideration in setting up a new industry. These are social audit, financial audit and environmental audit,” he said.
Dr Atiq, also executive director of Bangladesh Centre for Advance Studies (BCAS), a think-tank, said the people involved in the production process will have to introduce green economy system.
“We can't do anything that destroys our rivers, water bodies and ecosystem.”
About the global warming, he said the carbon emission rate is less than 0.3 tonnes per head in Bangladesh while this rate is 20 tonnes per head in the USA, nine tonnes in South Africa and Germany, five tonnes in China, and 2.8 tonnes in the developing countries.
“The developed countries will have to reduce carbon emission absolutely to save the global environment.”
On a recent report by UK-based Maplecroft on climate change, the eminent environmentalist said it is well known by now that Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to the climate change. Although the government has allocated a small fund in the budget, work on the adaptation projects remains stalled.
The Maplecroft report says around 191,637 people have died due to natural disasters over the last 30 years in Bangladesh. Cyclones alone account for 167,178 of those deaths.
Dr Atiq, a member of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said there is no way out without taking adaptation programme in Bangladesh as the damage has already been done here.
About the ongoing Cancun Climate Summit, he predicted that no fruitful outcome will emerge from the conference for vulnerable countries as the developed countries have not kept their pledges till now.
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