{"id":50892,"date":"2018-08-01T10:09:05","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T14:09:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=50892"},"modified":"2018-08-28T17:43:27","modified_gmt":"2018-08-28T21:43:27","slug":"bangladesh-world-heritage-site-threatened-by-heedless-industrialisation-un-expert-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2018\/08\/bangladesh-world-heritage-site-threatened-by-heedless-industrialisation-un-expert-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Bangladesh: World Heritage Site threatened by \u2018heedless industrialisation\u2019 – Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ expert"},"content":{"rendered":"

Image: FAO\/Mondal Falgoonee Kumar|Researchers travelling on a small canal during a field visit to the Sundarbans in Bangladesh.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sundarbans<\/a> forest, a which is the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the world and home to several endangered species, is being threatened by \u201cheedless industrialization\u201d, according to a Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ rights expert, who on Tuesday, called on the Government of Bangladesh to halt the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe accelerating industrialisation of the Sundarbans threatens not only this unique ecosystem \u2013 which hosts Bengal tigers, Ganges river dolphins and other endangered species \u2013 but also poses serious risks to the human rights of the 6.5 million people whose lives, health, housing, food and cultural activities depend directly on a safe, healthy and sustainable Sundarbans forest,\u201d said John Knox<\/a>, Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment. <\/p>\n

Stretching along the Bay of Bengal, the Sundarbans is considered one of the natural wonders of the world. However, despite objections from the World Heritage Committee of the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the Government of Bangladesh has approved more than 320 industrial projects in the area, including a massive coal-fired power plant. The process bypassed requirements for public participation and an environmental impact assessment.<\/p>\n

Last year, the High Court of Bangladesh directed the Government not to approve any industrial development within the 10-kilometre buffer zone of the reserved forest, but according to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵESCO, approvals continue to be given. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe threat posed by untrammelled industrialisation of the Sundarbans is emblematic of the threats facing the environment around the world,\u201d the Special Rapporteur said, adding that \u201cof course, the people of Bangladesh, like people around the world, need to improve their economic well-being\u201d. Mr. Knox stressed that \u201cpursuing short-term economic gain in disregard of environmental costs\u201d was simply unsustainable.<\/p>\n

The Human Rights Council-appointed independent human rights expert explained that mangrove forests provide \u201cbenefits for clean air and water that extend far beyond their immediate location\u201d.<\/p>\n

He called on the Government of Bangladesh to halt the industrialization. \u201cPursuing short-term economic gain in disregard of environmental costs is chasing fools\u2019 gold. Without a healthy environment, economic gains are unsustainable,\u201d Mr. Knox stressed. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo have truly sustainable development<\/a>, it is critical to protect the environment. And to ensure that environmental concerns are taken into account, governments must listen to the voices of those who are most affected by proposed industrial projects.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToo often, the people who raise questions about development projects are ignored or even treated as enemies of the state. But really, they should be treated as the champions of sustainable development,\u201d the independent expert said. <\/p>\n

Original article at: https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/story\/2018\/07\/1015992<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image: FAO\/Mondal Falgoonee Kumar|Researchers travelling on a small canal during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":50893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,4,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-on-land","category-news","category-sustainable-development-agenda"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50892\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}