Bangladeshi Climate Justice Project
NGO News Desk :: A team of environmentally-minded International volunteers from the non-profit organization, Journeys for Climate Justice (www.jcj.org.au) have just launched an innovative project tackling climate change in Bangladesh. The project will be centered around Dhaka, over March/April, 2013. The volunteer project manager Patrick Kirkby will be working in collaboration with local Bangladeshi experts to seek to empower vulnerable communities to adapt and cope with the challenges of Climate Change. Patrick (MEnv, BSc with Honours), with a background in environmental leadership, climate change and environmental sciences, will be drawing on his previous experiences on Climate Change projects in grass-roots communities in Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
WHAT IS CLIMATE JUSTICE?
Climate Change is inequitable. Often those that are most severely impacted upon by climate change are those that have contributed the least to the problem, and have the least resources to adapt and cope. This is the case for Bangladeshis, who have some of the lowest carbon footprints in the world, however they have been identified by the World Bank as one of the world’s most vulnerable nations to the impacts of a changing climate.
HOW IS CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTING UPON BANGLADESH?
Monsoonal flooding, sea level rise, droughts, cyclones, storm surges and heat waves are all increasing in severity, threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of Bangladeshis. Climate Change is further compounding the already dire state of overpopulation, poverty, pollution and food insecurity in Bangladesh.
WHAT WILL THE PROJECT INVOLVE?
Patrick will be teaming up with local Bengali and English speaking climate experts to deliver free training programs to local NGOs, youth groups, schools, universities and community groups to improve their capacity to address climate change. The major event will be a free ‘Climate Solutions Conference’ held in Bengali in late March. This training will focus on practical solutions to the climate challenge, incorporating discussions of community-based adaptation, renewable energy, sustainability, disaster risk reduction, transport, microfinance and agriculture. A team of local youth from the Bangladeshi Youth Movement for Climate (BYMC) will also be joining the project, and running a number of environmental activities in Dhaka over the month of March. The project also aims to document the climate change injustices occurring in Bangladesh, and utilize these ‘stories’ to raise international media attention.
HOW CAN YOU GET INVOLVED?
If you are interested in participating in the project activities, or applying for a free training program, you can contact Patrick ([email protected]) or the local coordinator Jamil Ahmed ([email protected]) to register. Contact Patrick if you would like to participate in the projects activities, or contribute to local team helping to implement the project.
Contacts:
Patrick Kirkby (Project Manager)
01685712504
Jamil Ahmed (Local Coordinator – JATRI Centre @ BRAC University)
+88-01711-855732
Abdullah Razwan (Bangladeshi Youth Movement for Climate)
01712916516
