OUR CORRESPONDENT,
Satkhira
The world’s largest climate summit, the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30), is set to begin in Belém, a city in Brazil’s Amazon region.
More than 12,000 delegates from 150 countries are gathering there with renewed pledges to save a planet battered by global warming, rising sea levels, and natural disasters.
Among them are two students from Satkhira -- Nowshin Islam and Nur Ahmad Zidan -- who will share the realities of life in Bangladesh’s climate-vulnerable coastal areas.
They will represent Bangladesh as child delegates, offering an opportunity to bring voices of coastal communities to a global stage. The two were scheduled to leave for Belém early today.
Nowshin, a class-eight student at Pratapnagar United School in Ashashuni upazila, lives in Pratapnagar union.
Her parents, Shahidul Islam and Jesmin, are both teachers. Since 2021, Nowshin has been involved in campaigns for children’s rights and climate justice in coastal regions.
Nur, also a class-eight student, lives in Jatindranagar village under Munshiganj union in Shyamnagar upazila and studies at Sundarbans Secondary School.
His parents, GM Roisuzzaman and Laeka Khanam, are also teachers. He serves as president of both the central and upazila committees of the Coastal Children’s Forum.
Their participation in COP30 has been facilitated by the NGO Jagrata Juba Shangha (JJS). Project manager Nabokumar Saha said JJS has been working in 10 coastal upazilas to strengthen children’s leadership and amplify their voices.
Sharing her hopes, Nowshin said, “I’m going to Brazil to speak about the struggles of coastal children. Because of climate change, our education is disrupted, food becomes scarce, and child marriage increases. It’s everyone’s responsibility to leave behind a liveable planet for the next generation.”
Nur said, “Life on the Satkhira coast is a daily struggle for survival. Losing homes, saline water intrusion, and ruined farmlands -- these are part of our lives now. We will tell world leaders not to shift the burden of their past mistakes onto us. We will demand compensation from those responsible for the most carbon emissions.”
They are expected to return home on November 20.