Climate change presents one of the greatest development challenges of our time, and it is now clear that the eradication of poverty and inequality cannot be achieved without also addressing the causes and consequences of climate change.
Bangladesh is often considered to be the country most vulnerable to climate change.In addition, Bangladesh has high levels of existing poverty and inequality (43.3 per cent of the population lives below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day), and low per capita GHG emissions at just one ton per person (compared with nearly 20 tonnes per person in the USA).
Climate change is an issue of vital importance for children, not just because they are one of the most affected groups right now, but also because their future – and their children’s future –will be so fundamentally influenced by what actions are taken now to meet this challenge. Children will suffer the effects of climate change and climate change policies longer than adults, making them vital stakeholders in today’s decisions about climate change responses.Children are affected in many ways by climate change in Bangladesh, both in a worsening of challenges that were already present, and through new challenges arising from changing average climatic conditions becoming the new ‘normal’. The types of climate risks confronting children are diverse, ranging from direct physical impacts, such as cyclones, storm surges and extreme temperatures, to impacts on their education, psychological stressand nutritional challenges. These impacts are falling unequally on childrencompared to adults. Children aremore vulnerable to vector-borne diseases thanadults; under-nutrition and diarrhoeal diseases can much more easily lead to severeand often dire consequences in children; and the physical dangers of disasters poseunique threats to young bodies and minds.
Implications for education and climate changein Bangladesh
• Schoolingisdisruptedwhen disasters damage and destroy educationalinfrastructureand equipment.
• Schooling is disrupted when school buildings are used for shelters, in many locationsin Bangladesh these disruptions are frequent, happening multiple times in everyschool year.
• ¬Declining livelihoods – often an impact of shifting seasonal patterns on agricultural-based livelihoods – impacts on families ability to keep children in school. ¬
• Disaster events and declining rural livelihoods can increase risk of child labour forboys and child marriage for girls. ¬
• Girls are more likely to be taken out of school than boys when families experience a shock or decline in income. ¬
• The longer a child is out of school the less likely they are to return to education at all. ¬
• Studies demonstrate the link between drought and intense rainfall (through decline in agricultural income) to increased school absenteeism. ¬
• Climate change is implicated in increasing levels of migration in Bangladesh, with impacts on children’s schooling. ¬
• An educated population is vital for adapting to climate change now and into the future. Today’s children in Bangladesh will need the skills and knowledge to adapt tothe unfolding impacts of climate change for the rest of their lives. Investing in girls’ and boys’ education is vital for Bangladesh to thrive in a changing climate.
Health and climate change in Bangladesh
• Children are most at risk of health impacts of climate change. ¬
• Climatic changes are disrupting disease patterns. ¬
• Waterborne diseases are more prevalent after floods, cyclones, and droughts.
• ¬Temperature changes are changing the distribution and prevalence of vector-borne diseases. ¬
• It is estimated that globally 25 million more children will be malnourished by 2050 due to climate change. ¬
• The availability of safe drinking water is undermined by climate change and weather-related disasters, leading to health problems for those with no choice but to use contaminated water. ¬
• Increased deaths and hospital admissions of children during extreme heat andextreme cold. ¬
• Ill-health and malnutrition in childhood undermines development and lifelong prospects. ¬
• Healthcare services are disrupted when disasters or extreme weather events damage and destroy healthcare infrastructure and equipment. ¬
• A healthy population is vital for adapting to climate change now and into the future.
• Healthcare infrastructure built today must be resilient to disasters and services invested in to deliver effective healthcare that meets the needs of girls, boys, women, and men in Bangladesh in a changing climate.
Nutrition and climate change in Bangladesh
• Malnutrition linked to extreme weather events may be one of the most challenging consequences of climate change. ¬
• Half the projected deaths from climate change induced food insecurity are expected to be children in lower income countries, such as Bangladesh.
• Agricultural yields and food security are being undermined by climate change inBangladesh through changing rainfall patterns,increasing temperatures,unreliability of seasonal patterns, and extreme weather events. ¬
• Climate change not only affects agricultural productivity, but also the nutritional content of the crops that grow. ¬
• Efforts to adapt the Bangladesh agriculture sector to climate change will have implications for what is produced and how it is produced, with implications for children’s nutrition. ¬
• Increases in the price of food, caused by extreme weather events, climate variability or change, will disproportionately affect the poorest girls and boys in Bangladesh, with implications for other family expenditure on education, health, and other wellbeing factors.
Water Sanitation and Hygiene and climate change in Bangladesh
• Bangladesh suffers negative consequences of both too much water and too little water. ¬
• Globally diarrhoea is the second biggest killer of children. ¬
• Climate change is exacerbating existing water challenges, through changing rainfall patterns, increased temperatures and evaporation, and increased flooding. ¬
• Salinity of surface water and groundwater supplies are being exacerbated by climate change. ¬
• WASH infrastructure is at risk from disasters and extreme weather events.
Child Protection and climate change in Bangladesh
• Children are at risk of violence, exploitation, and abuse during and after disasters. ¬
• Disasters are increasing in frequency and severity in Bangladesh due to climate change. ¬
• Climate change is also eroding rural livelihoods, placing children at increased risk of childlabour, child marriage, and trafficking as families struggle to cope with less predictable seasons and more frequent harvest failures. ¬
• Migration is a common strategy for families in Bangladesh to cope with climate change and disaster impacts, which can increase the vulnerability of children.
Climate change can create a vicious downward spiral of poverty for those already vulnerable. A child already living in poverty or without adequate water and sanitation before a crisis will be more impacted by a flood, cyclone, or drought, and less able to recover quickly, putting them at even greater risk when the next flood, cyclone, or drought occurs, which is now more frequently than in the past. Whilst this cycle continues, during each period of stress or crisis that child’s education is disrupted and health undermined, potentially eroding their adaptive capacity in adulthood. Therefore, tackling climate change and its impacts on children is an imperative for equity; reducing inequity between children now will promote their future resilience to climate change and disasters.
Mahamudul Hasan
Mahamudul Hasan
Studies Bachelor of Science (Hons) inEnvironmental Science at Noakhali Science and Technology University.
Department of Environmental Science and Disaster Management.