--- title: Bangladesh needs a Just Recovery to Recover from Climate Impacts date: 2020-08-17T09:56:04Z modified: 2023-07-19T11:45:04Z permalink: "https://350.org/bangladesh-needs-a-just-recovery/" type: post status: publish excerpt: Massive floods in Bangladesh shows the inequality of the climate crisis and the need for a Just Recovery to build a better future. wpid: 130403 categories: - Asia - Climate Impacts - Featured - Just Recovery tags: - Climate impacts - floods - just recovery - south asia featured_image: /wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_01-scaled.jpg --- Around one-third of Bangladesh is underwater as massive floods inundate the country. Bangladesh is yet to come out from the aftermath of Cyclone Amphan which hit the country in May and caused widespread devastation. Millions of people already impacted by COVID-19 and Cyclone Amphan will be pushed further into distress and poverty as a result of the floods. ![](https://350.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/0.07257300_1596470098_2-700x288.jpg) A NASA image taken on July 25, 2020, showing the inundation of the country’s northeastern part in navy blue. [Photo: NASA Earth Observatory](https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/climate-change/a-quarter-of-bangladesh-under-water-nasa-photos-reveal-72631) #### **What we know** - Bangladesh’s Agriculture Ministry said the longest-running floods in recent memory had submerged nearly 80,000 hectares of paddy fields. - This is the worst flood in a decade - 53 rivers are overflowing - 80,000 hectares of farmland underwater - More than 3.3 million people had been impacted by the flooding and a third of the total are children, according to UNICEF. #### **Impact of Climate Change** The massive floods in Bangladesh are one of the glaring evidence of human-induced climate change. > _So it is now apparent that the year 2020 is clearly the year in which the impact of climate change can be identified in both Cyclone Amphan that hit Bangladesh and India a few months ago, as well as the current flooding which is affecting millions of people as well as crops and property,_ [_Dr. Huq_](https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/politics-climate-change/news/worsening-floods-linked-human-induced-climate-chnage-1937733) ![](https://350.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Screen-Shot-2020-08-17-at-12.51.45-PM-700x464.png) A woman and a young girl sit in their flooded house in Sunamganj, north-eastern Bangladesh, earlier this month. Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images #### **From the frontlines of a flooded village in Bangladesh** Shahin Alam, a 19-year-old survivor of the recent cyclone’s wrath in Bangladesh, has been documenting the massive floods that ravaged his community. This is what he told [DW](https://www.dw.com/en/cyclone-amphan-victim-feels-abandoned-by-international-community/a-53572416) in an interview after Cyclone Amphan, > “Cyclones don’t scare me anymore; what scares me is that we are dying slowly because of climate change. All our farmlands and shrimp enclosures have been submerged once again. It means we won’t be able to cultivate anything in the coming months. We have to rely on support from non-governmental organizations.” > Heavy rains and breaking of embankments have allowed salt water to enter the locality. Such is the situation in the southern coastal region of Bangladesh. Damaged by the adverse effects of climate change.[@GretaThunberg](https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@350](https://twitter.com/350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@YouthNet4CC](https://twitter.com/YouthNet4CC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@FFFinBD](https://twitter.com/FFFinBD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@SohanBMYP](https://twitter.com/SohanBMYP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@SaleemulHuq](https://twitter.com/SaleemulHuq?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) @ [pic.twitter.com/ZKS9nCihTU](https://t.co/ZKS9nCihTU) > > — Shahin Billah (@shahin\_billah) [July 21, 2020](https://twitter.com/shahin_billah/status/1285391720520118273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) > As a result of climate change and environmental disasters, Bangladesh goes under water every year.[@GretaThunberg](https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@FFFBangladesh](https://twitter.com/FFFBangladesh?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@YouthNet4CC](https://twitter.com/YouthNet4CC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@SohanBMYP](https://twitter.com/SohanBMYP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@350](https://twitter.com/350?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@350SouthAsia](https://twitter.com/350SouthAsia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@realDonaldTrump](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [@shantaw\_nur](https://twitter.com/shantaw_nur?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) [pic.twitter.com/6iJCWlIOiK](https://t.co/6iJCWlIOiK) > > — Shahin Billah (@shahin\_billah) [July 20, 2020](https://twitter.com/shahin_billah/status/1285016905992945664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) #### **A Just Recovery For Bangladesh** Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change in the world. At the same time, the Bangladesh government has plans to build 29 coal plants in the country. Bangladesh’s current plans to develop domestic coal production, importing LNG to meet domestic gas demands and expansion of coal-fired power (projected to reach a share of 35% by 2041) are not in line with the need to decarbonise the energy system and phase out coal for power generation by 2040, as a Paris Agreement-compatible pathway for South Asia. Young people in Bangladesh and leading political figures are already calling for a Just Recovery. In the run-up to G 20 Finance ministers meeting in June, communities across the country mobilised to demand G20 finance ministers a just recovery package for the planet. ![](https://350.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_01-700x525.jpg) Youths from Satkhira, Bangladesh take action asking for a Just Recovery package from G20 finance ministers meeting in Saudi Arabia. Photo: Jannatul Mouwa [Saber H Chaudhury,](https://twitter.com/saberhc/status/1287344433147518977) parliament member from the ruling Awami League and standing committee member on [petitions](https://www.parliament.gov.bd/index.php/parliamentary-business/committees/list-of-committees/name-of-committees-for-10th-parliament-english#title25) called for a Green New Deal for Bangladesh, a roadmap on the transition to 100% renewable energy by 2050 and “Build Back Future” post-COVID-19. > Gr8 to resume Committee work [@jatiyoshangsad](https://twitter.com/jatiyoshangsad?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw). Discussions about formulating studies, roadmap on transition to 100% [\#renewableenergy](https://twitter.com/hashtag/renewableenergy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) by 2050, promote [\#circulareconomy](https://twitter.com/hashtag/circulareconomy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw), reduce [\#pollution](https://twitter.com/hashtag/pollution?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw). [\#Bangladesh](https://twitter.com/hashtag/Bangladesh?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) needs a [\#GreenDeal](https://twitter.com/hashtag/GreenDeal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) to [\#BuildBackBetter](https://twitter.com/hashtag/BuildBackBetter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) and recover from [\#COVID](https://twitter.com/hashtag/COVID?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)-19 at same time. [pic.twitter.com/u4EHfTQIVL](https://t.co/u4EHfTQIVL) > > — Saber H Chowdhury (@saberhc) [July 26, 2020](https://twitter.com/saberhc/status/1287344433147518977?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) #### **What you can do now** Join us if you believe that this is a time to be decisive in saving lives and bold in charting a path to a genuinely healthier and more equitable future through a just recovery. [Count me in](https://350.org/just-recovery)