events
Stop Climate Change, Save Bangladesh
Event Details
- Date:
- Friday, September 18, 2009
- Time:
- 10:00AM - 1:00PM
- Location:
- UN Ralph Bunche Park (across from UN Headquarters), 1st Ave and 42nd Street, New York, NY, United StatesView Map
- Tags:
- Climate Week NYC
Event Description
Bangladesh is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change, with manifold impacts on its population though the country contributes very little to the global Green House Gas emissions.
The rally "Stop Climate Change, Save Bangladesh" organized by the Bangladesh Environment Network (BEN) is a nonpolitical, grassroots movement towards this urgent cause. The purpose of the rally is to draw attention of the international community to the threat that climate change poses to Bangladesh, a large part of which will get submerged, rendering tens of millions of people bereft of homestead and livelihood. Climate change will also affect Bangladesh through drying up the Himalayan glaciers, intrusion of salinity, increase in extreme weather events, and spread of known and new diseases. The huge number of people affected will destabilize Bangladesh, South Asia, and the world as a whole
The Bangladeshi community and its friends will submit a memorandum to the UN Secretary General voicing the people's concerns and demands. The rally will start at 10 am and will end at 1 pm, when a delegation from the rally will go inside the UN office to hand over the memorandum.
The rally will include cultural items (patriotic songs, recital of poems, etc.). Everyone is welcome to join the rally. Organizations can bring their own banners for their recognition and publicity. Organization leaders will also be given a chance to speak at the rally. There are plans to prepare special T-shirts for the rally.
BEN chapters elsewhere including Canberra, London, Sydney and Tokyo and Toronto plan to hold rallies on Sept 18 and submit memoranda to local UN offices. BEN’s sister organization in Bangladesh, BAPA also plans to hold a rally in Dhaka in solidarity with the BEN rallies of Sept 18, so that it becomes a global mobilization of Bangladeshis in protest of climate change.
Bangladesh Environment Network is seeking support for the UNHQ rally from members of other communities affected by climate change, civil society groups and political leaders. Please join the rally on Sept 18th and let’s make our voices heard!
For General Inquiries: Dr. Nazrul Islam - s_n_islam@YAHOO.COM
For Press Inquiries and Credentials: Dr. Sarwat Chowdhury - sarwatbd@yahoo.com