A sociologist-to-be investigates salinity issues in Gabura After being called Piya enough times, I decided to pick up a copy of The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh. Like Piya, the protagonist, I am an American of Bengali descent studying the Sundarbans. Unlike Piya, I am a proud Bengali speaker, though my accent betrays my bideshi roots. While reading, I was …

At the heart of the Paris Agreement lies mitigation — the seemingly insurmountable task of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to curtail the consequences of climate change. According to various studies, 65% of greenhouse gas emissions comes from fossil fuels combustion, 24% from industrial activities among which up to 67% is estimated to come from management of materials activities. Since …

Understanding depression among women in disaster prone areas When it comes to a natural disaster, the loss of property and livelihood are ultimately monetary issues that can be overcome. But how do you deal with the trauma that often comes in response to experiencing such world altering events? Such impacts cannot be dealt with solely with money. While previous studies …

The impact of livelihood training for women looking to move After receiving livelihood training, women previously engaged in fishing and farming are now moving to Dhaka or abroad to look for work. While there is an increasing number of women migrating, the overall percentage is still low, even if salaries elsewhere are higher for women who have the skills training. …

Is it an opportunity to migrate from climate dystopia? Are we adapting with or for export-led commodities? In her 2018 journal article, “Threatening Dystopias: Development and Adaptation Regimes in Bangladesh”, Dr Kasia Paprocki, assistant professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the London School of Economics, tackles these questions based on her two years of fieldwork in …

What’s the difference between development and climate change adaptation projects? As the Green Climate Fund (GCF) attempts to ramp up its funding for adaptation projects, the UN fund continues to face a major challenge: how to differentiate a development project and a climate change adaptation project. Already two projects – one from Bangladesh and the other from Ethiopia – have …

  Photo:Abu Siddique At CBA11 in Uganda, there were a number of participants from Bangladesh including from BRAC, Transparency International Bangladesh, and Practical Action The series of international conferences on community based adaptation (CBA) was started in Bangladesh over a decade ago with the first few conferences held in Bangladesh and then they started being held in different countries including Tanzania, …

Bangladesh should take note The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB,) the world’s newest development bank, held its Annual Meeting in South Korea earlier this week and agreed on a new energy strategy. Leadership at the bank also issued statements noting they would not be investing in coal. AIIB’s Vice President Thierry de Longuemar also confirmed that the bank won’t finance …

With Trump turning his back on climate change, the US can turn to Bangladesh to adapt: Dear friends in the United States of America, I am a researcher in Bangladesh working on adaptation to the adverse impacts of climate change, especially on the poorest and most vulnerable countries and communities. In light of the recent executive order signed by President …

As the climate changes, Bangladesh is also changing. This is most obvious in terms of biophysical changes — stronger hurricanes, harder rainfall and more salinity — but it is also affecting the government’s budget, institutional systems, and the way it manages its finances. The question is as climate change accelerates, can Bangladesh change fast enough? There are many changes from …