Proceedings of the Conference on Engineering Research, Innovation and Education 2011 CERIE 2011, 11-13 January 2011, Sylhet, Bangladesh * Corresponding Author: Qazi Azizul Mowla, E-mail: qmowla@yahoo.co.uk CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLIMATE REFUGEE NEXUS IN BANGLADESH CONTEXT Bayezid Ismail Choudhury Research Student at the University of Sydney, Australia & Former Assistant Professor, BUET. Qazi Azizul Mowla Professor, Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh. Due to the climate change and consequent sea level rise (SLR), extreme environmental phenomenons are presumed to occur more frequently and more intensely in Bangladesh. It is feared that this will result in huge population exodus. Dhaka being the capital city and most desired destination for most migrants (Climate Refugees-CR), will put great pressure on it. Dhaka is already burdened with many problems including; overcrowding, environmental degradation, lack of infrastructure and services, poor governance etc. and has limited physical and managerial capacity to cope with such problems and the CRs would be an added pressure on it. The objective of his paper is discuss SLR scenario and explore for a range of adaptive measures to respond to SLR induced situation. It is believed that the proposed measures will prevent large scale migrations and Dhaka would be saved from further deterioration due to CR induced overcrowding whilst helping them to avoid the misery of urban life in the slums of Dhaka. Keywords: Environment; Climate Change; Climate Refugee; Adaptation; Urban. 1. INTRODUCTION The global climate is changing due to both anthropogenic and natural process. The United Nations Development Programme reiterates that the scientific evidence supporting climate change is clear and that climate change is now a reality (UNDP, 2007/2008). In its 2007 report, the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1 (IPCC) provides convincing evidence of the ongoing processes of climate change and the contributing factors. The impact of climate change is vast and complex. One of the significant impacts is the increased population displacements. The IPCC (2007) report estimated that by 2050, 150 million people could be displaced by climate change related phenomenon. Bangladesh, with its low-lying deltaic environment, will be severely affected by the climate change. According to UNDP (2010), by the year 2050, Bangladesh could loose 18 % of its land due to rising sea levels (SLR), resulting in 30 million 1 The intergovernmental PANEL ON Climate Change (IPCC) formed in 1988 is a scientific intergovernmental body tasked with evaluating the risk of climate change caused by human activity. The IPCC shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. displaced people or climate refugees (CR). The displacement of people to new and existing settlements will put additional pressure on infrastructure and other services (IPCC, 2007). Factors like resources to move, livelihoods and social networks are regarded as the cause of migration. For social networking and secured livelihood reasons, options to migrate to Dhaka are most probable for CRs (Sirajee, 2010). Dhaka is already burdened by many problems such as overpopulation, unplanned and inadequate services and infrastructure, poor governance, severe traffic congestion and environmental degradation. Additionally, when migrants end up invariably in the slums of Dhaka, the situation will further worsen. According to Begum (1999) more than 90% of migrants admitted to being influenced by the capital city status of Dhaka and nearly two thirds had over-estimated the facilities available in Dhaka. As a result, Dhaka has become long established and ultimate destination for most internal migrants, whether they are CRs or not (Courier, 2009). “Migrants to the city of Dhaka are not all single minded individuals who possess transferable skills; many tend to be illiterate, unskilled, old, and ill equipped for the city” (Begum,1999,p4). As such, migration to Dhaka