Bangladesh’s salinity levels:

Saline intrusion has made safe drinking water a scarce commodity in Bangladesh, especially in coastal communities. Unfortunately, the breakdown of surrounding ecological systems does not deter individuals from drinking, bathing or using the saline water near them. Consequently, the limited safe water becomes a growing health concern for those frequently exposed to water sources. The high sodium levels in saline water cause consequences for pregnant women, children and adults residing in  Bangladesh’s coastal regions. Additionally, the increased frequency of sea level rise and tropical floods is no longer preventing seawater from entering through the riverbeds in Bangladesh. This becomes a huge issue for farmers who switch from crop to shrimp farming, as rising sea levels break embankments, allowing seawater into their fields. Consequently, drinkable water becomes limited, and health concerns arise. By implementing measures that protect surrounding communities, there would be greater chances of restoring ecosystems and limiting disproportionate impacts on those in the Global South.

While women are leading programmes in improving salinity levels in coastal Bangladesh, the ongoing health barriers Bangladesh women face show little progress in providing adequate health interventions in current climate policies.  This becomes an issue for those who stay home to perform domestic labour and use unsafe water to clean their clothes or children, causing a greater likelihood of developing diseases or infections. In turn, this calls for greater recognition of women’s experiences with high salinity, and for better implementation of interventions that ensure their health is adequate and not compromised by climate insecurity.

Women’s Reproductive Health:

The continuing absence of women’s voices in current climate policies dismisses the representation of working women in coastal regions within Bangladesh. Climate governance must include civic participation from each community to address their needs and understand how environmental degradation has consequences for vulnerable groups worldwide.

The ongoing taboo of women’s reproductive health has caused this problem to be dismissed in international discussions.  While projects are aiming to redirect freshwater flow to the south, there is little movement to implement facilities and services that tackle reproductive problems or general ill health among working women who are continuously exposed to saline water. Although all communities within coastal regions in Bangladesh are at risk of infections and diseases, inadequate water sanitation greatly harms women’s health. Research has shown links between salinity exposure and widespread skin diseases and reproductive health problems, causing a problem for women who spend days standing in the saline water and, consequently, developing reproductive tract infections. This causes immense health risks, as nearly 10 per cent of all surgeries performed in the Shyamnagar hospital end up with the women’s uterus being removed. In turn, this illustrates how water salinity directly impacts working women’s reproductive health from the surrounding, damaged ecosystems caused by global warming. Consequently, working women’s experiences must be monitored by international bodies to establish clear guidelines that ensure their health is not compromised.

Recommendations:

There have been advancements in involving women in international discussions. Previously, the COP28 Gender Plan implemented a framework that valued recognition, fair redistribution, inclusive representation and accountability. However, there must be additional implementations that tackle the consequences for women’s reproductive health caused by the water salinity in coastal Bangladesh.

The involvement of women’s voices must extend to those who are exposed to and understand the consequences of the environmental degradation surrounding them. By incorporating a grassroots approach, this will guide domestic policy and ensure Bangladesh women’s involvement in international climate negotiations.  Through civic participation, international bodies can better understand the reproductive consequences behind environmental degradation and provide accurate solutions that target their needs.

Additionally, there must be more data and statistics available about women’s illnesses, deaths or surgeries caused by high salinity levels. This can be used in future discussions with international bodies and charities to establish better facilities to ensure women are treated sufficiently when exposed to diseases. While this does not provide any direct climate resolutions, access to data from these regions can help identify solutions to rising sea levels that contribute to high salinity.

Finally, interventions are necessary to maintain proper upkeep of surrounding water sources to ensure safe drinking water. This should specifically target impoverished zones that are more susceptible to water-borne diseases and infections. The women exposed to these experiences exacerbate health inequities, and implemented measures can help avoid disproportionate impacts from the continuing environmental insecurity that Bangladesh and other countries within the Global South face. This can also ensure that any lucrative investment targets better practices or installations that prioritise their health rather than increasing the chances of greater health and climate degradation.

Moving forward

Women’s involvement in climate policy is improving, but significant gaps remain that must be properly addressed in future climate governance. The Next Century Foundation acknowledges the difficulty in directly resolving salinity levels without collective action. However, the absence of substantial reproductive care for working women in Bangladesh has the potential to be effectively resolved by international bodies. We call for a grassroots approach that includes civic participation to target Bangladesh women’s needs and implement interventions that ensure safe drinking water to avoid further compromising their general and reproductive health. Once achieved, we can expect more data and statistics to become available about the reproductive health issues caused by rising sea levels in Bangladesh, which will contribute to greater understanding of the disproportionate environmental impact on women in the Global South.