Today marks the beginning of the UN climate conference COP30. As country negotiators, climate justice campaigners as well as representatives from charities and organisations like Christian Aid Ireland and our partners descend on Belém in Brazil for these talks, the situation could hardly be more urgent.
As global temperature rise continues apace, extreme weather events from cyclones to droughts and floods continue to increase in frequency and strength. Even if countries took drastic climate action today, there are already unavoidable and irreversible impacts of the climate crisis that cannot be rowed back on, such as sea level rise and soil salinisation, both of which can see homes and livelihoods wiped out.
It is the world's poorest countries that continue to bear the brunt of the climate crisis - among them Bangladesh. The southern Asian country is responsible for less than 1% of global emissions yet finds itself amongst the most climate vulnerable countries in the world.
Twenty-eight-year-old Sharmin Akter is originally from a farming community in a rural area of central Bangladesh, where she lived with her husband Ripon, her daughter Rafa, now aged 10, and Sharmin’s elderly parents.
"We lived in Kamarkhali and had fertile farmland that grew rice and seasonal vegetables in abundance - enough to keep us fed for the year and even to sell a surplus for a good income," said Sharmin.
But sadly, Sharmin and her family were hit hard by the climate crisis. Over the years the nearby river slowly began encroaching their land, eroding it bit by bit before it was completely devoured.
"My husband learned farming from his father at a young age, but over time, our land shrank, and our crops failed. Life became a struggle for survival," Sharmin said.
River erosion first took their farmland, and then the family home, leaving Sharmin and her family with no choice but to move away with the hope of starting anew.
Sharmin and her family ended up moving to the coastal city of Barisal, which lies in the delta of major rivers that flow out into the Bay of Bengal. It is one of the most densely populated coastal cities in Bangladesh, with around half a million people crammed into an area just slightly larger than Galway City.
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They could only afford to live in an area called Bangabandhu, a slum in Barisal, a city in southern Bangladesh. The slum is home to 15,000 people and 75% of its population are estimated to be ‘climate refugees’ forced to abandon their homes because of the loss of farmland in coastal areas due to land erosion, increased salt in the soil and the destructive impact of cyclones.
When the family first moved to Bangabandhu slum, they rented a single small room that they all lived in together. The floor was unpaved, and the broken tin roof leaked rainwater during monsoon season, soaking them inside.
It was a struggle to get a job when the family first moved to the city but Ripon eventually found work as a day labourer laying concrete. However, the money he earned was nowhere near enough to cover the family's day to day expenses, including the cost of food, school fees or his father in-law's medication.
Bangabandhu slum is regularly flooded by the Kirtonkhola river and is lacking in both sanitation and safe drinking water. These filthy conditions caused Sharmin and her family to suffer from skin infections and the lack of safe drinking water meant they often suffered from diarrhoea.
With funding from the Climate Bridge Fund, Christian Aid’s local partner Association of Voluntary Actions for Society (AVAS) set up a community centre in Bangabandhu slum to support people displaced by the climate crisis. The community centre directly benefits 4,000 people, providing healthcare, helping people access welfare and start businesses as well as improving sanitation in the slum.
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When Christian Aid began working in Bangabandhu it was like a blessing for us. I used to feel heartbroken that I couldn't support my family, but when tailoring training was offered by AVAS, I enrolled and later received BDT 10,000 (€70/£59) to buy a sewing machine.
With her sewing machine, Sharmin began making and repairing clothes and she now earns BDT 5,000 (€35/£30) per month. Before Sharmin started sewing, her family could barely afford to eat two meals a day and could not afford to send their daughter Rafa to school. Now, Rafa attends school regularly and the family have also moved into a better home - a two-room rental - where they can live more comfortably.
"The money I earn each month brings joy and stability to my family. Without the support of Christian Aid, our lives would still be full of hardship," Sharmin said.
"Thanks to Christian Aid, safe drinking water is now available in Bangabandhu and public toilets have been built. Waterborne illnesses have reduced, and people are living healthier lives. Without this support, we would all still be forced to drink dirty river water," Sharmin added.
Sharmin had a parting message for the international community.
Returning to our past life is not an option - everything has sunk beneath the river. I am a climate refugee. Burning fossil fuels is causing temperature rise, contributing to climate change. The international community must reduce emissions. I don't want anyone else to lose their home like I did. Wealthy and high-polluting countries should support families like mine.
COP30 come at a critical moment as countries take stock of progress towards limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C degrees and seek agreement on scaling up financial support for those most impacted by the climate crisis. Yet this year’s summit takes place against the backdrop of renewed climate denialism, exacerbated by the decision of the United States to once again withdraw from the Paris Agreement – the world’s key treaty for tackling the climate emergency.
Christian Aid Ireland’s Ross Fitzpatrick, who is attending COP30 in Brazil, said:
"COP30 must mark a turning point for those living on the frontlines of the climate crisis. The communities we work with across Africa, Asia and Latin America are already facing devastating floods, droughts and heatwaves, despite having contributed least to the climate emergency. Wealthy countries like Ireland have a moral and legal obligation to step up, not only by cutting our own emissions faster, but by contributing our fair share of climate finance. Ireland has made progress, but we’re still providing well below what’s needed. Ireland must commit to providing new and additional climate finance in line with our fair share of the $300 billion goal agreed at COP29 last year. Meeting this obligation is not an act of charity; it’s about taking responsibility and standing in solidarity with those whose lives are being upended by a crisis they did not create."
