Coastal people in Bangladesh: Millions suffer as world prepares for COP29

Just a few days ago, Sakhina Begum’s teenage grandson Ariful narrowly escaped a crocodile attack while he and his friend were catching crabs from a canal near his home.
Ariful was able to make it out alive but his friend lost his life.
Sakhina, 80, lives with her physically challenged son Abdullah, daughter Kulsum, and Kulsum’s son Ariful in Fakirkona para of Kalabogi village. The area just a narrow strip of land in Sutarkhali union of Khulna’s Dacope upazila.
Just 200 metres long and 50 metres wide, it is between the Shibsa and Bhadra rivers. Across the Shibsa lies the Sundarbans, and on the other side is the mainland.
During high tide, water from the Shibsa flows onto Sakhina’s yard at least twice a day. This has been going on for over a decade and a half but they could not leave the area.
“We don’t have any other place to go,” she said.
Since Cyclone Aila altered the flow of both the rivers in 2009, almost all the residents of Fakirkona have left as river erosion became rampant. As a matter of fact, the area was severed from the mainland three years ago due to erosion, turning it into an almost-isolated island.
At least 25 families, including Sakhina’s, still live there, and all the residents have to now use a boat to reach the mainland.
There are no cyclone shelters nearby for emergencies and the people have to travel 30km by boat just to get medical care at the upazila health centre. The nearest secondary school is at least an hour away.
Most locals no longer think the island is suitable for survival as high tides and storm events leave them devastated, with water often getting into their homes.
Visiting the fast-eroding Fakirkona recently, our correspondent saw the people’s struggle for survival.
For most of the families, fishing, mostly shrimp and young fish (fish fry), is the primary source of livelihood despite the presence of crocodiles. The children too do not have much space for play and end up dangerously close to the water.
As the government recently banned catching young fish in the Sundarbans, many families were pushed further into poverty, rendering many children unable to attend school.
Sutarkhali Union Parishad Chairman Masum Ali Fakir, told The Daily Star, “When there are possibilities of a storm or high tide, the people here can’t sleep. They stay awake with their children until the danger passes.
“Here, even basic necessities are scarce. Life is so difficult here that no one will understand until they experience it themselves.”
This is just about the families on one island.
Millions of people living in the country’s coastal areas are at increasing risks of rising sea levels, river erosion, severe cyclones and saltwater intrusion.
Between 2000 and 2019, Bangladesh experienced 185 extreme weather events, making it the seventh most vulnerable country to climate change.
In 2019, at least 4.1 million people were displaced because of climate disasters.
Tropical cyclones have ripped through coastal communities, costing an average of 0.7 percent of the gross domestic product per year.
Rising sea levels have forced people to leave their homes, while the amount of land affected by salinity has increased by 27 percent since the 1970s, affecting both crops and livelihoods.
Citing data from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the Nationwide Climate Vulnerability assessment report, published in June 2023, said climate change has put around 36 million people and their livelihoods in a vulnerable state in the coastal regions. 
Professor Emeritus Ainun Nishat, of Brac University, said with the 29th climate conference (COP-29) is about it kick off tomorrow (November 11), a lot delegates will gather and multiple issues will be discussed.
“But how much would that benefit those like Sakhina? From the beginning, scientists have been proving that human activities are causing climate change, resulting in increased natural disasters, making countries like Bangladesh more vulnerable.
“The conference does little for the millions of distressed people in our coastal areas.”
He said that during COP-15 in Copenhagen, a global fund was promised, in which developed countries were supposed to deposit $100 billion a year to help underdeveloped nations battle climate change.
With COP-29 about to start, even the first $100 billion has not been raised.
COP-28 in the UAE had agreed on a loss-and-damage deal, with pledges totaling approximately $655 million so far. However, there are concerns, about the size and volume of the fund.
Meanwhile, much of the pledges were made in the form of loans instead of grants, which will push vulnerable countries further into debt. 
“Basically, our government needs to take its own action for the vulnerable people of the country, who’re soon going to face a more dire situation,” said Prof Ainun Nishat. 
In 2022, Bangladesh had finalised the National Action Plan (NAP) on climate change (2023-2050), to reverse the effects of climate change in the country.
The NAP identified 113 major interventions in 11 climate-stressed regions across the country, for which $230 billion would be needed.
However, Bangladesh has so far received grants worth only $268 million from the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund and the LDC Fund.
The average annual loss due to climate-related disasters in Bangladesh is estimated around $3 billion (1–2 percent of the GDP), though this figure can be much higher in individual years.
(Our Khulna Correspondent contributed to this report.)