Tag Archives: climate change

A World in Peril: Climate Change and the Erosion of Human Rights

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Dr. Uzma Shujjat

Director, Area Study Centre for Europe

University of Karachi

Climate Change is a human rights threat with causes and consequences that cross borders; thus, it requires a global response underpinned by international solidarity. States should share resources, knowledge, and technologies to address climate change. Climate change is one of the greatest threats to human rights of our generation, posing a serious threat to the fundamental rights to life, health, food, and an adequate standard of living of individuals and communities across the world. 

The dramatic impact of climate change has exposed devastating clarity and the integral of a healthy environment to the benefit of all our other rights. Climate change is intimately linked with human rights because of its effect on not only the environment but also our own well-being and ultimately our survival. Big powers, especially from higher-income countries with the greatest historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions, are not fulfilling their responsibilities.  

World leaders, especially those from the developed world, have the greatest responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions and do not fulfill their legal obligations to address climate change and help, in the long run, adapt to the change that has already occurred.  If these developed ones are not going to respond seriously and act quickly, the effects of the unprecedented weather conditions of frequent heat waves, excessive flooding, and rainfall will continue to rise and worsen over time, creating a threat for current and future generations. Thus, the failure of governments to act in a responsible manner to address the crises accompanying scientific evidence and frequent dialers and predictions may well be the biggest intergovernmental human rights violation in human history. 

In addition to the Government, the corporate sector is responsible for addressing and respecting human rights in the context of climate change.  The impact of climate change includes warming temperatures, changes in precipitation, and increases in the frequency or intensity of extreme weather, and rising sea levels.

These impacts threaten our health by affecting the food we eat, water we drink, air we breathe, and weather we experience.  The human actions that affect climate change, such as burning fossil fuels, cutting down forests, and farming livestock, have increasingly influenced the climate and the earth’s temperature. According to Resolution 53/6 July 2023, the council recognized the importance of minimizing and addressing the loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate change. 

The dangers of climate change are particularly important for Children. Climate change has threatened livelihoods in the last decade, and international, regional, and national Human Rights bodies have recorded a rise in human rights violations in accordance with climate change. Here, we consider some high-risk human rights violations that are solely connected with livelihoods. 

Access to clean water climate change is meagerly affecting and will continue to affect rising trends and the availability, accessibility, and affordability of water. This was mostly due to natural degradation changes and anthropogenic factors. Large corporate sectors are highly responsible for large-scale damage to the water system, contamination, and poor quality of water, which are sources of amenities. The right to life and climate change have a vital connection; sudden extreme weather events due to changes in the natural system, such as heat waves, wildfires, excessive flooding, and rainfall, usually lead to people losing their lives, resulting in a very high death toll, right to health, and food.      

Political Impact of Climate Change: The Case of Bangladesh

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Dr. M. Shahrukh Shahnawaz

Writer is a lawyer, 

Member of the Environmental Committee of the Sindh High Court Bar Association Karachi,

&

The Faculty of Department of International Relations, University of Karachi

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The interim government of Bangladesh under Muhammad Yunus, after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid by the student protest, is facing its first challenge, which is the death, devastation, and destruction caused by the recent floods, as nearly 300,000 people are taking refuge in emergency shelters, while the student leader in the cabinet accused India of deliberately releasing water from dams. 

The fall of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid is also a stark reminder that economic growth and development do not ensure political stability if human rights are being trampled. According to the Human Rights Watch, in 2023, ahead of the 2024 general elections, the authorities started making mass arrests of opposition members and using excessive force against protestors.  

Amnesty International reported that the government intensified its crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly ahead of elections, including abusing the Digital Security Act and other legislation to target journalists and human rights defenders, subjecting them to arbitrary detention and torture, and not being held accountable for enforced disappearances and custodial deaths. 

However, the present interim government can face the same fate as the government of the father of Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975, whose government was unable to respond to the destruction caused by the 1970 Bhola Cyclone, followed by 1974 famine, eventually leading to the declaration of emergency by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman government, followed by his assination, and a long military rule.   

The 1970 Bhola Cyclone led to the 1971 Pakistani Civil War, between West Pakistan and East Pakistan, which later turned into the 1971 Pakistan-India War, and saw the fall of Dhaka and East Pakistan, and the emergence of Bangladesh. The people of East Pakistan had many grievances from the government of West Pakistan especially the fishermen community of the East Pakistan, whose rights and plight were raised and shared by the great Faiz Ahmad Faiz, in his movie Jago Hua Savera (1959), based on the Bengali novel Padma Nadir Majhi, by Manik Bandopadhyay, which is a 1936 novel, depicted the plight of the Bengali fishermen residing on the banks of Padma river during the British colonial rule. The Bengal region paid heavy attention to British colonialism during the 1943 Bengal Famine, which killed around three million people and was a manmade disaster, primarily driven by the war policy of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. 

Bangladesh has learned from its previous historical and political experiences pertaining to floods, famines, and cyclones, and made history when the Supreme Court of Bangladesh declared all its rivers a living entity in 2019, contributing to the development of the rights of rivers. 

Both India and Bangladesh fear China’s construction of dams in Tibet along a bend in the river, in the vicinity of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, known as the Brahmaputra River in India. For India, this project could trigger flash floods or create water scarcity, or give China strategic leverage over India on border disputes in the Himalayan mountains, while Bangladesh claims that it is more adversely affected than India, as the Brahmaputra River is important for sustaining Bangladesh’s livelihood and agriculture, especially in the dry season, potentially and possibly causing displacement. 

Both India and Bangladesh share 54 rivers and signed the Ganga Waters Treaty in December 1996, announced in 2024 that both sides had started technical negotiations to renew it. Before the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajid toppled in August 2024, climate change caused the displacement of coastal communities, adversely affected farmers and the agriculture sector, and caused the death of farmers due to lightning. These and other environment-related causes have contributed to the uprising against the government, which has been overshadowed by student protests. The government took some remarkable steps, such as building resilient homes and providing job opportunities for climate refugees, but this was not enough.   

Bangladesh has suffered and survived many environmental disasters since British colonial rule. Its story and struggle provide lessons and warnings to other South Asian countries to seriously threaten the environment, as it has serious political implications.   The challenges for the present interim government of Bangladesh are immense, but the first one pertains to environmental disasters, exacerbated by climate change, and unless it is ready and willing to accept the environmental threat as a reality, it might end up facing the same fate as the first government of Bangladesh did in 1975.  

Equity in an Emergency: The Imperative of Climate Justice in Pakistan

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Yasir Ali

PhD Scholar and Teaching Associate 

Department of International Relations, University of Karachi 

Amidst rising environmental catastrophes and crises, Pakistan appears to be standing on the very crossroads. Climate change and its extremely serious impacts is actually not limited to any country, as it equally hits rich and poor nations alike. However, the most vulnerable countries like Pakistan are the ones who get affected by it the most fiercely. Along with other states on earth, Pakistan faces the issue of rapid climate crisis.

The country is blessed with various ecosystems ranging from the majestic peaks of the Himalayas to the fertile plains of the Indus Valley, is endangered by this ongoing threat. Climate change is yielding more unpredictable weather occurrences, the melting of glaciers, more disastrous floods and longer regional droughts. These consequences further aggravate already marginalized communities, endangering human security and increasing its vulnerabilities.

Pakistan produces less than 1% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the world but continuously ranks in the top countries that are most vulnerable to climate change impacts as stated by the annual Global Climate Risk Index. In 2022, a catastrophic flood that submerged a notable area of Pakistan took lives of more than 1,700 people and displaced many others. Key structures such as roads, bridges, and electricity grids suffered extensive damage, and crops were devastated on millions of acres.

This is not a one-off event. It is getting worse every year, which is caused by climate change. From the 1960s till now, Pakistan has seen a general rise in average rainfall during monsoons as a result of temperature increase. According to climate models, extreme precipitation events becoming even more intense as global warming goes into its continuation. India is already the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China and has continued to show lukewarmness even at the recent COP2 inter sessions. Pakistan on the other hand has to compete with an uncertain scenario of the fast melting Hindu Kush glaciers along with a global climate emergency already looming over it.

With the country’s proliferating population and straining resources, the destabilizing effects of climate change become more pronounced. The poor households are at the greatest risk of losing their food security since the temperatures, precipitation, and extreme conditions are becoming extremely harsher causing a reduction of major crop production in some farming areas. Water shortages force millions of children to leave school and work instead for their families gathering supplies. For that they have to travel great distances to find them in remote places. This leads to youth unemployment, an upsurge in civil conflicts over resources, as well as insecurity and an increased sense of injustice.

In response to this catastrophe, Pakistan has actively engaged on the international stage, demanding climate justice and asking for global commitment in dealing with climate change issues. Pakistan’s ratification of the Paris Agreement and pledge towards the lowering of greenhouse gas emissions serve as a realization of the country’s accountability in confronting the climate crisis. Also, programs such as the Billion Tree Tsunami and the Clean Green Pakistan campaign demonstrate the government’s determination to improve the environment and development.

Nevertheless, despite the adoption of different strategies, there remain many obstacles that make it difficult for the government of Pakistan to put its climate policies into practice. The fact that the country is still largely dependent on fossil fuels, along with poor infrastructure, and the limited financial resources makes the transition to a low-carbon future a struggle. On the other hand, unequal distribution of resources increases the vulnerability of marginalized communities to climate change and thus limits their efforts to adaptation.

In order to overcome this situation, Pakistan has to make sure the climate justice has the prominence and priority in their policy-making. This means reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and creating opportunities for participation, as well as shielding the vulnerable groups with services and strategies that make them resilient. Investments in renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, and climate resilient infrastructure will not only help to reduce the negative impacts of climate change, but is also essential for achieving the inclusive development. Besides, forming global partnerships with the United Nations, non-profit organizations, as well as the private companies is a very powerful way of gathering the funds and expertise for climate change improvement.

In addition, the development of Pakistan’s policy on climate justice has to be based on a pledge to protect the rights and interests of its people, now and in the future. This needs an effective leadership that will come up with cutting-edge solutions which will help in squaring with the climate alteration challenges. In the turbulence of the uncertain and changing climate, Pakistan will have a decisive role to undertake to build a more equitable and sustainable world for everyone.