‘Kolkata Will Drown’ - an Animated Film Brings Climate Change Home

Mamun Srizon via UNSPLASH

The animated short “Wade”, by homegrown filmmakers Upamanyu Bhattacharyya and Kalp Sanghvi has already won numerous awards but that’s not only why it seems we should take note. The animators made the film upon returning to India to learn of the problem of rising seas and subsequent displacement of people in the Sundarban island chain. With Kolkata being so close to the Sundarbans, learning of worsening climate, displacement and even a 2019 study that warns the mangrove home of the Royal Bengal tiger could vanish, they set about to tell a story. 

'Wade' is a climate change nightmare set in a Kolkata ravaged by sea level rise, where a group of humans and an ambush of tigers face off on the flooded stre...

Their research took them deep into understanding the political and social impacts of climate change, all of which is woven into the narrative. Critics of doomsday studies may find faults with the film, which we have yet to see, but what we applaud is their motive to tell not only an uncommon tale about climate change, but one that sets the record straight: those who contribute the least to climate change are the ones most impacted by its effects. (CondeNast Traveller)

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Cyclone Amphan Puts Focus Back on Millions Displaced by Climate Disaster

Piyush Priyank/UNSPLASH

Cyclone Amphan Puts Focus Back on Millions Displaced by Climate Disaster

May 20 saw the most powerful storm in the Bay of Bengal in over a decade make landfall in populated areas of southern Bengal. At least 86 people are dead, thousands of homes are destroyed and relief operations are hampered by COVID-19 lockdowns. Numerous climate activists in India and Bangladesh say the most recent disaster makes clear that current evacuation procedures are inadequate to deal with the magnitude of need. They say disaster evacuation infrastructure falls short in ensuring social distancing and meeting medical and quarantine needs. 

South Asia is a global hotspot for disaster displacement with 9.5 million new disaster displacements in 2019, the highest figure since 2012, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. India, alone, recorded the highest number of disaster displacements in the world with five million new disasters in 2019. 

While both India and Bangladesh have developed early warning systems and evacuation plans, according to Saleem Huq of the Dhaka-based International Centre for Climate Change and Development, the intensity of the cyclones are increasing due to climate change and thus both countries need to enhance their future preparedness. 

Furthermore, while evacuations save lives, it’s the aftermath that goes unmet as disasters destroy property, livelihoods, and with it the futures of generations to come. Thus, climate activists say adaptive measures are required to retrofit infrastructure to withstand disasters and provide livelihood options and tools for climate-resilient agriculture that safeguard food security in disasters and also in response to the impacts of slow-onset climate change. 

Droughts, sea-level rise and changes in weather conditions are impacting crops and thus food security, forcing many to migrate for survival according to a new policy brief Climate Migrants Pushed to the Brink by ActionAid International. 

ActionAid says climate displacements in South Asia are increasing but a comprehensive policy framework is still lacking because of inadequate data, the scale of the problem continues to go unrecognized and a total absence of local-level strategies on disaster displacement. (The Wire) 

Analysis

ActionAid International warns that due to inadequate shelter for all those evacuated and with a need to maintain social distancing to avoid coronavirus spread, shelters will be packed and lack sanitation facilities, especially impacting women. As we pointed out in our feature The Gendered Impacts of Climate Displacement, women are often more adversely affected by climate disasters in numerous ways from displacement, gender-based violence and even death. Unfortunately it didn’t require the double whammy of a global pandemic and one of the largest cyclones ever to coincide in order to recognize that evacuation and emergency shelters - both in conflict and disaster settings - are often inadequate to meet the needs of impacted communities, most notably vulnerable and special needs populations such as the elderly, disabled, LGBT, women and girls. 

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In the Indian Sundarbans, the Sea is Coming

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In the Indian Sundarbans, the Sea Is Coming 

Sagar Island in the Bay of Bengal, population of more than 200,000 and growing, is considered by climate scientists to be a climate change “hotspot” and a glimpse into India’s climate future. More than 20 percent of India’s populations live within 31 miles of the coastline, which is considered the world’s most vulnerable to climate change, where sea-level rise is projected to increase between 1.3-2 feet and temperature increases of 2.6 to 4.8 degrees are expected by 2100. Latest research indicates that this sea level rise could affect three times as many people than previously expected, which could erase Asian megacities like Bangkok and Mumbai. Sagar is already resource depleted and communities are vulnerable with increased demands in a dense state, and expectations are that climate migration will become a necessity, as seen in neighboring Bangladesh, where coastal climate change has driven conflict and mass migration among shrimp farmers to cities. India has already seen some of the highest levels of disaster displacement and latest rankings from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre ranks India at the top for highest new disaster displacements in the first half of 2019. Over the past 25 years, four islands in the Sundarbans have already disappeared with Lohachara, the world’s first inhabited island to disappear, creating India’s first “climate refugees.” (The Diplomat)

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In Today's News: Climate Displaced in Cox's Bazaar; Dengue Fever on the Rise; Are We Doing More Harm or Good When it Comes to Climate Migration Modeling?

Government Constructs 139 Buildings for Climate Refugees

Bangladesh is stepping up initiatives to protect 4,409 climate displaced people in Cox’s Bazaar refugee settlement, which the government is dubbing the largest refugee project in the world. A further 55 multi-storied buildings will be constructed across the country for ‘climate refugees’ in a quest to cut poverty, provide land, housing, and broad livelihood and development assistance to populations affected by natural disasters such as cyclones, floods and river erosion. (New Age Bangladesh)

Analysis:

Of course, Bangladeshi citizens internally displaced by climate change are classified as internally displaced persons even if for environmental grounds such as climate change.

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Are We Thinking About Climate Migration All Wrong?

Much of the existing climate migration modeling grabs our attention with its massive numbers of looming large-scale displacements, but can it also miss the details of the fuller picture, not just in terms of numbers, but also of the exact shape and form this displacement might take since it lacks scientific certainty, ultimately pushing policymakers, in the wrong direction?

For example, many experts expect the displacement to be internal and happen slowly over time, and usually not very far. Some experts feel that assigning an expected number helps to galvanize political will while others contend apocalyptic messaging fans the flames of existing nationalism and xenophobia spreading around the world. 

Francois Gemenne, a leading expert in this topic, contends that presenting the situation as something unmanageable fuels prejudices and invites government surveillance.” (Rolling Stone)

Analysis:

It should be noted that while most climate migration or climate displacement may be internal, multiple displacements or states’ continuous inabilities to meet the needs of displaced populations could bring about situations which force individuals to seek assistance and protection across borders.

Furthermore, an increasing area of concern in some urban cities like the Miami neighborhoods of Little Haiti and Liberty City is “climate gentrification” as one Harvard study put it, which explores whether natural disasters can make lower-income inland neighborhoods more attractive to wealthier migrants who seek to offset their risks to climate change by buying up real estate that risks “displacing” local residents in the process.

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WMO Warns Widespread Transmission of Dengue Due to Climate Change

Just as the coronavirus wreaks panic across the globe, the UN’s weather body, The World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) report last week warned of the increased risk of dengue fever to about half of the world’s population due to rising temperatures and erratic rainfall, making it easier for the Aedes mosquito species to transmit the virus. Dengue is now the fastest spreading mosquito-borne viral disease in the world, increasing from only 9 countries in the world in the 1970’s to 128 countries that strikes 96 million people each year. 

Last week we shared the report’s findings that global hunger was on the rise as well as climate displacement, which internally displaced more than 6.7 million people last year. (The Pioneer)