Climate Change News From California to Bangladesh

As California Governor Jerry Brown sounds the alarm  over the rising expenses of dealing with extreme weather events caused by climate change, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in attendance at last week's Petersberg Climate Conference,  also emphasized the economic  consequences of  failing to address rising levels of atmospheric Green House Gases (GHGs.). 

“Doing nothing means that is will be much, much more costly for us all,” Merkel said.

Brown, addressing the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s aviation management unit in Sacramento, said early firestorms are likely to become the norm in the southern part of the state. This year, firefighters have battled over 1,100 fires, twice the average number at this time of year.

“Our climate is changing, the weather is becoming more intense,” Brown said in an airplane hangar filled with trucks, airplanes and helicopters used by the state
to fight fires. “It’s going to cost a lot of money and a lot of lives.

“The big issue (is) how do we adapt,” Brown said ,“because it doesn’t look like the people who are in charge are going to do what it takes to really slow down this climate change, so we are going to have to adapt. And adapting is going to be very, very expensive.”

Meanwhile, reports of climate change impacts in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDIs), continue to escalate as predicted with an alacrity and automaticity akin to filling in a paint-by-number scenario.

Cases in point: Bangladesh, where extreme weather has increased the salinity in the coastal waters of Daka,  causing a serious shortage of safe drinking water, and  the Solomon Islands,where farmers are increasingly battling severe floods and saturated soil to address food security issues.

According to the Pacific Climate Change Science Programme, global  sea-level rise averages  2.8 to 3.6 mm annually, whereas the Solomon Islands is experiencing an annual rise of eight millimetres.

In Bangladesh, where sea-levels are currently rising 8mm a year, World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) estimates a total of 1 million residents of the delta region will become climate refuges by 2050.

The issue of climate justice continues to dominate conversations among stakeholders vying for equal development rights and remedies for populations most vulnerable to extreme weather caused by global climate change.

The need for a collaborative effort of all stakeholders  to promote adaptation to climate change at the community level was a core issue at last month's  7th annual Community-Based Adaptation Conference (CBA7), hosted by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Center for International Studies. The conference launched a two-year Climate Justice Dialogue between WRI and the Robinson Foundation – Climate Justice (MRFCJ which will focus on climate justice and equity in issues related to climate change adaptation.


“When people realize they have human rights, it energizes them, they begin to participate, and they feel empowered,” said Mrs. Robinson in an interview with IIED. “It’s an extraordinarily important part of being very sure that communities themselves are able to cope with increasing weather shocks and increasing climate change.”