Climate change around the world – spotlight on Bangladesh

To begin the New Year, the Greener LPP team set a challenge for the wider NHS London Procurement Partnership (NHS LPP) team to research, report, present and reflect on climate change in a particular region from around the world and highlight the issues facing these countries and the impact on people’s daily lives.

The aim of this challenge was to increase our collective understanding and awareness of how climate change is impacting countries around the world and the severity of the problem. 

Teams were asked to research the likely consequences of climate change and what was currently being done to mitigate the effects. Groups covered geographical areas from South America to Australia, Africa to South Asia and spoke about the challenges facing communities from these areas on a daily basis. 

One group chose Bangladesh and highlighted that:

• In 2020 Bangladesh had the 3rd highest incidence of new displacements globally - around 4.4m people (behind China and The Philippines). 
• Increased oil drilling and shipping activities are having a negative effect on the environment and water and air pollution are major problems.
• The country faces extreme weather on a daily basis including increased heat, extreme rainfall and other natural hazards like cyclones.
• The average temperature is expected to increase by 1-2.5 degrees by 2050, with temperatures throughout the summer months already reaching 35 degrees and 30 degrees in winter on average. 

The group also spoke about the physical and mental health impact this was having on people in Bangladesh – including the fact that respiratory illnesses was predicted to become more prevalent with rising temperature and humidity, in addition to the level of anxiety disorders also linked to temperature and humidity.

One positive initiative discussed was how Bangladesh now has regular digital weather updates to help farmers deal with their crops in advance of severe weather. This helps to ensure crops are not lost and livestock are kept safe. 

Michelle McCann, Executive Director for Sustainability and Social Value, said: “This was an important challenge to get teams thinking about climate change issues further away from home and how it is impacting communities. This exercise brought home the message just how much of a threat climate change has on our planet.”