Although the debate on the impact of global warming is not yet fully resolved, as scientific evidence failed to capture the extent of the adverse effects of the global warming, potential deleterious impacts are well recognised by the international community. The world leaders had gathered in Copenhagen to find out lasting solutions to the problems of global warming by reducing the emission levels of the polluting nations and providing financial compensation to the victim nations.
Our prime minister was also in Copenhagen to draw attention to the potential adverse impacts of global warming on Bangladesh. The government of Bangladesh and the organisers of the conference have been successful in projecting Bangladesh as one of the worst victims of climate change. The fear that one-third of Bangladesh will go under the sea and tens of millions of people will lose their homes and livelihood certainly drew sympathy from the audience and from the demonstrators who ruled the streets of Copenhagen.
The disappearance of Maldives and a large part of Bangladesh will soon make excellent poster pictures for the proponents fighting against global warming. While the threat of global warming is likely to be real, we need to ask ourselves whether we want Bangladesh to be projected in that manner. Our main concern is what kind of signal such poster pictures will project to the people and investors who must believe in the long-term future of Bangladesh.
What message is Bangladesh currently projecting to the global community? Although Bangladesh's coastal land mass is expanding, our politicians, intellectuals, and media are projecting the picture of a sinking Bangladesh. Everyday, newspaper articles and TV talk shows and news items are presenting various aspects of the plights being caused by or will be inflicted upon Bangladesh due to global warming.
We understand that, based on the scenarios being painted, not only will the centuries old process of expanding landmass in the Bay of Bengal stop but over time a significant part of the country would be threatened by the rising sea. Certainly the threats are real and nobody should ignore the scientific basis underpinning this scary outlook. On the basis of this threat, the Bangladesh government is rightly demanding compensation from the global community in general and the responsible industrial countries in particular.
While fully sharing the concern and endorsing the demand for compensation that Bangladesh government has made to the global community and highlighted at the Copenhagen Climate Summit, we are however also concerned about the collateral damage that the current strategy may entail for Bangladesh's economic outlook even in the medium term, well before the serious impacts of global warming become real.
Is the current approach adopted by Bangladesh appropriate? So far the government's focus has been singularly on the threats posed by the global warming and seeking compensation for the damages caused or will be caused by this phenomenon. The current approach does not even mention what kind of mitigating measures Bangladesh is contemplating to contain and cope with the global warming on a sustainable basis. If we only focus on the submerging of the country and the destructive cyclones and floods, and do not talk about the mitigating measures, why would potential investors at home and abroad be interested in investing in Bangladesh?
Thus, Bangladesh's approach to global warming needs to be balanced very skillfully. We must refrain from projecting any image at home and abroad that the country is going under water. Stereotyping global warming through images like a poor Bangladeshi woman holding a child in her arm and walking carefully on a bamboo bridge to cross an inundated land (which we saw in BBC a few days back) will definitely not help the long-term cause of Bangladesh. Such images will only diminish the hopes and aspirations of Bangladeshis' as a nation and diminish the country's growth prospects by driving away future investment. Long-term costs of the current approach would far outweigh the limited financial gains/compensations we may obtain from foreign donors.
What should Bangladesh do then? Bangladesh should opt for a two-pronged approach. While legitimately campaigning for compensation, we must highlight solutions to the problem through identification of appropriate technology, implementable projects and strategies. The projects, strategies and technology adoption should be backed by commitments from the government and the civil society in general in such a forceful manner that global community is reassured that the country will be able to withstand the deleterious impacts of global warming.
The strategy would entail projecting a determined Bangladesh ready to cope with the adverse impacts of global warming. We must not endorse any poster of sinking Bangladesh but posters with ambitious efforts/projects projecting Bangladesh's fight against the impacts of global warming. We must assure our citizens and potential investors at home and abroad that we would never allow one-third of the country to go under water and Bangladesh's march toward a prosperous future will not be undermined. Moreover, it is well known that any compensation claim without putting together a series of implementable projects and strategies would yield very little.
Bangladesh must adopt a balanced and comprehensive approach to the issues/concerns associated with global warming. So far, we have been concentrating only on one side of what should be a two-prong strategy. While carefully projecting the potential negative impacts of global warming, we must also delineate our solutions to the problem by identifying appropriate technology, implementable projects and strategies.
We believe such a balanced approach will also help persuade the global community to provide financial assistance against our claims as well as encourage potential investors from home and abroad to invest in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is just about to come out of the label of "bottomless basket" coined by Henry Kissinger in the 1970s, and the last thing we would like see is being labeled as "a sinking nation with displaced millions."
