Indian survey ship INS Sandhayak, on May 9, 1981, reached a small island in the Bay of Bengal, resulting in a decade-long debate over the sovereignty of Bangladesh. And as the latter decided to take the bull by the horns and send three gunboats to claim the island, the diplomats of both countries had to hold a meeting within three months to solve the crisis peacefully.
However, neither by diplomacy nor by force, was the crisis solved. Though a maritime boundary verdict awarded the area of the island to India, it was submerged in 2010 in the Bay of Bengal. This island was nothing but the South Talpatti or New Moore.
In March 2010, Sugata Hazra, of the School of Oceanographic Studies at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, said that the island had disappeared, providing some satellite images and opined that climate change is to blame.
He added that, due to global warming, temperatures in the Bay of Bengal area have been rising at an annual rate of 0.4 degrees Celsius and in the 2000-2009 decade, sea water level rose at a rate of 5mm a year. This rise of sea level due to the climate change had led to the disappearance of the island from the map, thus putting an end to the decade-long dispute. This explains how fast sea level is rising due to climate change. Though this was an interesting case, climate change is not merely interesting; rather, it is devastating, especially for Bangladesh.
The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) last year met in Yokohama, Japan, with the prediction that global sea levels could rise more than three feet by 2100. If this prediction comes true, one-third of Bangladesh will be inundated by 2100.
Another study suggests that, by 2050, 17% of Bangladesh will be underwater, creating almost 18 million climate refugees. Moreover, in an analysis of decades of tidal records published in 2014, Dr John Pethick, a former professor of coastal science at Newcastle University in England, found that high tides in Bangladesh were rising 10 times faster than the global average, indicating the possibility of a future world map by 2100 without Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is not only vulnerable because of its possible inundation but also because of its geographical location that has made Bangladesh such a disaster prone country. Bangladesh has the biggest river delta of the world, with one of the largest bays in the south troubled by natural calamities like floods, cyclones, tornadoes, and nor'westers. Some of the adverse effects of climate change are being noticed for the last decade. Bangladesh has been left with no option but to act on it.
The first thing to do, in this regard, is to create awareness among the people all across the world, because countries like Bangladesh, Maldives or Tuvalu have little to do in order to prevent climate change by reducing carbon emissions. But if the adverse effects of climate change can be brought to the attention of the world and they can be convinced to act on it, it will be a major success.
Irony of fate, Bangladesh has a long way to go in the case of creating awareness. Though the country is considered as one of the worst victims of climate change, almost two-thirds of its population has no clear idea about it according to a survey conducted by Gallup World Poll. Many of them had never even heard of it. In Bangladesh, where erosion and flood are major problems, people often consider the effects of climate change as fait accompli.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations Youth and Students Association of Bangladesh (UNYSAB) are doing something out of the box that can engage the future leaders both from inside and outside the country by organising an international model United Nations.
This November, before the UN Climate Change Conference 2015 or COP21 in Paris, the foreign ministry and UNYSAB are organising the second session of Bangladesh international model United Nations under the theme “Climate change for sustainable future.” The conference will start on November 21 at Hotel Pan Pacific Sonargaon, Dhaka.
This simulation of United Nations general assembly is going to be the largest one of its kind to ever take place in Bangladesh which will host around 1,000 youths. Students from India, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Laos, Canada, Denmark, Sierra Leone, the US and the UK will be attending the conference, both as delegates and dais members, along with the students of Bangladesh.
Delegates participating in the conference from across the world will discuss on the 16 agendas related with the theme of the conference for four days in a row and will move for a consensus to pass them as resolutions.
As a delegate, one must have vast knowledge of the issue that is going to be brought up in the conference. The delegate, assigned with a country and a certain committee, needs to go through articles, journals, and books that corroborate the facts he or she is going to address. It is being hoped that the conference is going to make the delegates aware of climate change, irrespective of the stance their countries have taken regarding the issue.
The equation that is expected to be applied here is quite simple. The leaders of those countries which are responsible for the larger shares of carbon emission, are seen still dilly-dallying and seem reluctant to take immediate steps to stop climate change by reducing carbon emission. So, it is better to focus on the future leaders. This conference is aimed at making the future leaders of the world aware of the adverse effects of climate change. If properly implemented, this is going to be a great help for the future of Bangladesh.
In addition, the foreign ministry wants to hear the voices of the youths of the nation, engage them with the climate action process, create awareness, and demonstrate that in the upcoming COP21. Hopefully, BIMUN 2015 will be facilitating the proper platform for that, and also as a platform to save the future of the country.