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Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

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Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

In the face of climate change and fossil fuel projects, Bangladeshi fishers and farmers worry that their livelihoods are at great risk.

Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Bangladeshis living in the area say these fossil fuel projects are compounding climate-fueled devastation.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Ismail Pasha fears a proposed massive LNG plant would wipe out local fish farming and salt production. “Only landowners will be compensated. Us fisherfolk will get nothing.”

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Nine-year-old Sohel Rana* carries lunch for his father and other family, who farm salt in the dry season along with fish and shrimp during the rainier months.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Sohel and his family are worried as their salt farming and fishing livelihoods are in jeopardy due to coal and LNG projects compounding harsh impacts of climate change.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Sakib Ali* farms salt from areas adjacent to massive Matarbari coal and major gas projects, which are threatening his livelihood, but he says he will provide for his family no matter what challenges lie ahead.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Tens of thousands of people who rely on fishing and salt farming are living on the edge of an environmental catastrophe as fossil fuel power projects compound climate disasters.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Rohima Begum lost her home after severe erosion of an embankment caused by the coal power plant’s construction at Matarbari. Rohima is living with her son’s family, but her new house was also nearly destroyed by a recent super-cyclone.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Rohima’s daughter, Nishpa, is worried though remains hopeful despite her home falling apart due to impacts from the coal power plant’s construction.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Abu Taleb, 60, has been fishing for a living all his life. Abu fears his livelihood will disappear in the haze of the new coal and gas power projects underway in the Chattogram region of southeastern Bangladesh.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Abu Taleb is determined to fish for the rest of his days, no matter what climate change and fossil fuel projects throw his way.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Each day, fisherfolk from the Chattogram region count their fish. They say their catch is becoming smaller.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

The Matarbari coal plant’s construction filled up and narrowed the local Kohelia River, causing thousands of fisherfolk to lose their livelihoods. Community members are seeking full compensation for the loss of their homes and livelihoods near the site.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Coal and gas projects have forced hundreds of families to relocate to another area in Chattogram and elsewhere in the country.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

Mohammad Redwan lives near a major new LNG power project: “I graze buffaloes during monsoon. These lands have been acquired [for the project]. What will I do to feed my family? We’ve been told many times we’ll get compensation but we’ve received none.”

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

A fisherman travels past construction of a massive new gas terminal at Matarbari.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces
Bangladeshi Fishers and Farmers at the Frontline of Climate Change

“Our homestead, salt and fish farms are being acquired for the LNG Terminal. What will we do now? If need be, we’ll give our lives, but we won’t compromise,” said Hamid Hossain, fish farmer in Matarbari, Chattogram.

Credit: Copyright Auvro Alam and Market Forces

Massive Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) power plants and terminals are being built on a remote island in the Chattogram coastal region of southeastern Bangladesh. Despite soaring costs of importing gas, major Japanese and U.S. companies such as General Electric, Mitsui and JERA are pushing ahead with expansion plans.

Bangladeshis living in the area say these fossil fuel projects are compounding climate-fueled devastation faced by hundreds of thousands of people, including families of fisher folk and farmers, who have lost their livelihoods due to the construction of a huge coal power plant.

More than 70,000 farmers in the Cox’s Bazar region of southeastern Bangladesh produce around 95 percent of the country’s salt. Each day in peak seasons, more than 10,000 metric tons of salt is produced on average. Fisher folk say it’s harder to make a living to feed their families as the harsher climate is fueling more intense cyclones and rising sea levels.

Rohima Begum worries night and day about providing a better future for her children after relocating her family twice in as many years due to erosion caused by a coal power station and a massive cyclone.

Tens of thousands of people migrate to major cities each month to escape frequent flooding and more severe tropical storms. Local and international environment groups are raising concerns as construction of coal and gas power plants and other infrastructure, including LNG terminals, is going full steam ahead, locking Bangladesh into decades of producing harmful carbon emissions.