Description

Bangladesh could be on the verge of civil war due to the advancing of climate change and the continuous pressure of environmental refugees in the country, especially when they wind up in cities ill-equipped to withstand the changing climate. Since 2015, some 2000 people a day settle in Dhaka, Bangladesh capital due to monsoon floods and increasing temperatures. Bangladesh contributes just 0.4 metric tonnes per capita to the carbon emissions fuelling climate change, but will suffer its effects badly. Within three decades, the country is expected to be at least 2°C hotter; by 2080 the seas could be 2ft higher.In these critical conditions, people fleeing from vanishing rural spaces to already overcrowded urban areas will represent a threat to stability on many levels, from resource production and distribution, to state governance. The already increasing pressure of environmental refugees is not being followed by solutions that feature on urban development plans and alternative livelihoods. In addition, climate migrants still have no legal standing nor protection under international law. It is not impossible to foresee that the when urban areas in Bangladesh will overflow their carrying capacity, protests, political unrest and eventually violence will burst in the country, turning into civil war.