"Pretty soon we'll be living on the tops of trees! Either that or this land will be strewn with our bodies,” a woman living in flood-struck Bangladesh told NPR. But before the floodwaters overwhelmed her home, she knew precisely when to evacuate – and how to save her own life. Authorities in Bangladesh and Myanmar are preparing to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people, warning them to stay away from coastal areas as a severe cyclone churned in the Bay of Bengal. The evacuation of nearly 500,000 people is expected to start Saturday with 576 cyclone shelters ready to provide refuge to those who are moved from their homes along the coast, said Bangladesh government administrator Muhammad Shaheen Imran.
The South Asian diaspora in the UK has played a pivotal role time and again in helping the world combat the climate change crisis. This year, the UK contributed an additional £500,000 (BDT 60.6 million) in humanitarian support to respond to last year’s flooding in Bangladesh’s Sylhet region, in which 7.2m people were affected. Delivered by BRAC, this funding will provide water, shelter, livelihood opportunities, and improved nutrition for people affected in Sunamganj, Sylhet. BRAC Executive Director, Asif Saleh, said, “This partnership between the British High Commission and BRAC will be crucial in standing beside the people in Sunamganj and being a partner in their journey to build back better.”
An Edgbaston Stadium employee who spent five weeks in Pakistan helping flood disaster victims has spoken of the devastation he witnessed and how he hopes to have played a small part on their road to recovery. Abraham Khan – Edgbaston’s Head of Finance – visited some of the villages worst hit by last year's catastrophic flooding which cost 1,700 lives and left more than two million people homeless. He raised thousands of pounds for the relief effort through a combination of an online appeal and his own savings which he used to buy food, clothing and life-saving equipment. In a recent interview with Asian Voice, Abraham said, “Global warming aside each country should be concerned with natural disasters in other countries and provide what assistance they can. This does not necessarily need to be financial and could be expertise to prevent or manage disaster relief efforts.”
The Mayor of London has committed to bringing forward London’s net zero targets from 2050 to 2030. At the time of publication of the 1.5°C Plan, the UK’s ambition was to achieve an 80% reduction in emissions by 2050. Since then, both national and local climate ambition has increased. At a national level, the UK has committed to reach a 68% reduction in emissions by 2030 (relative to 1990 levels) and to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
Total commitment to the net zero agenda
In an interview with the Observer, Alok Sharma said a total commitment to the net zero agenda from whoever is to lead the country would be essential to avoid “incredible damage” to Britain’s global standing, as well as irreversible harm to the UK and international economies.
“This is absolutely a leadership issue,” Sharma said, accusing some of the candidates of being “lukewarm” on net zero in the contest so far.
“Anyone aspiring to lead our country needs to demonstrate that they take this issue incredibly seriously, that they’re willing to continue to lead and take up the mantle that Boris Johnson started off. I want to see candidates very proactively set out their support for our net zero agenda for green growth.”
Everyone thinks somebody else will do it
Asian Voice columnist, Alpesh Patel OBE who invests in renewable energy spoke about the challenges of climate change and said, “The biggest highlight of climate change that the world needs to worry about is it's already too late. Now we're just managing a gradual decline. Unless the nuclear fuel, the hydrogen technology, which recently has been in the news, accelerates things and we invent a new technology to extract carbon even more efficiently and effectively out of the air. So I said on the BBC, and recently that I think things have accelerated a lot further than we thought and that's what often happens with chaotic systems such as weather. And we're also in obviously a state of denial. And there's the free rider problem which is, everyone thinks somebody else will do it. That's just human nature. Those are the things that come to mind as most worry about.”
Commenting on what the community can do to make sure we create a sustainable future for our offspring and their future generations to survive the climate crisis, Alpesh explained, “Canada has a committee to do to make sure we are a sustainable future for our offspring and their future generations to survive the climate crisis. I go back to Mahatma Gandhi - Consume less. Consume locally. We need to get out of this notion of fast fashion. Consume to do to make sure we are a sustainable future for our offspring and our future generations and my wife because of our son. I have a bicycle. People say why didn't he go buy out and buy a Bentley SUV or a Lamborghini SUV? And no, I think a 100-pound bicycle is just ideal while I can and it's suitable for me. I think it's those little points that we can do and set a standard for others and I say it on my Tipton. You know people say oh you're in finance what car do you drive? Because they're expecting mass consumption and I say actually I have a hundred-pound bicycle because it's sustainable. Why do I need to go and buy a new Louis Vuitton if I can get a secondhand one in good condition? Then somebody does. I don't have to keep manufacturing this stuff. That's sustainability. And it also taps into the Godrathina sodomy as well. So you know what? And Warren Buffett says it as well from an investment perspective. Consuming that leads to a simpler, happier life.”
Research points to people in highly vulnerable areas being up to 15x more likely to die in floods
Syed Ahmed OBE has over 20 years of experience working in the sustainable energy industry with a focus on decentralised energy issues. Speaking to Asian Voice, Ahmed said, “We are now regularly observing the type of extreme weather events which have been long been predicted by climate scientists - but I think we are only beginning to understand the huge impacts that these can bring. We are experiencing widespread impacts, from losses and damages to nature as a result of droughts to flooding, and wildfires, which are leading to the displacement of communities and in turn driving conflict. The March 2023 report from the IPCC states that there is ‘high confidence’ in their analysis that every increment of global warming will intensify the impacts of global warming and that climate adaptation options that are feasible and effective today will become constrained and less effective with increasing global warming. We have long known that those countries that contributed the least to climate change are often the most vulnerable to its impacts. This latest research points to people in highly vulnerable areas being up to 15x more likely to die in floods, droughts, and storms as compared to those in most resilient areas.”
This will affect our buildings and our property market
Dr Chamundeeswari Kuppuswamy who leads interdisciplinary research into the Global Economy at the Office of the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Hertfordshire explained that extreme weather and droughts that are not just droughts anymore are the main worries of the climate crisis. These are extended and severe periods of heat, sometimes years, and this is followed by periods of floods. So, there is no normality in these regions. These are a direct result of the destabilisation of what is known as planetary boundaries. Climate Change is just one of the nine planetary boundaries that have been breached and extreme weather is a manifestation of this breach. Extreme weather is not just a phenomenon in isolated regions. Here in the UK, our risk assessment reports point to increasingly high winds all across the country, and this will affect our buildings and our property market. It will affect how we enjoy the summers in our garden. Imagine trying to relax in the garden with howling winds.
Try thinking of this as a creative exercise or an adventure
Giving some advice to save the globe for our future generations, Dr Chamundeeswari Kuppuswamy said, “Reduce consumption of resources. Where you feel like buying three things, buy two. Develop that self-control. If you do that, you don't have to worry about offsetting the bad effects of overconsumption, you don't have to worry about the excessive waste that you cause, and it saves a lot of problems. Try thinking of this as a creative exercise or an adventure, if you are so minded. If not, then think that you will gather good karma and save your future generations from a very very uncomfortable life. Think specifically of the big spends - could you try hard to buy a four-bedroom house that fits you just, rather than going in for the five-bedroom house that you have room to spare? Then think about all that paint, furniture, and heating that you will be saving on, thus helping save the planet. This thinking will put you ahead of others when new legislation comes into force in the future on what is known as resource use norms. This is something the EU has already indicated in its 8th Environmental Action Plan.”
Read our full coverage on Be The Change - Climate Change in association with the Royal Air Force UK on P16-17.
