Bangladesh is the second biggest exporter of garments in the world. The garment and textiles industry accounts for 80% of Bangladesh’s total export earnings! The majority of this industry exists in huge super cities such as the capital, Dhaka. This makes the city a place lots of people want to live to make money and so it’s no surprise that the city has the 6th largest population in the world with over 22.5 million people living there.

Textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water in the world. The polluted water means risk to ecology, animals, human food and drinking water, biodiversity and soil fertility. Waste water running off from the factories means that rivers often run red, black or blue and often these rivers are where people can be found washing. This untreated run off (effluent) wreaks havoc on marine ecosystems which indirectly causes climate change.

The textiles industry causes a lot of environmental damage in Bangladesh but the jobs it creates in the city provides those in the delta regions close to the coast opportunity to earn money to pay for climate defences. Extreme cyclones and flooding have devastating effects in the delta regions near the Sunderbans. Many farming families will seek to send family members to the city to earn money that will be sent back to pay for climate damage and resilience. 

What’s certain is that Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to climate change. By 2050, 1 in 7 people in Bangladesh will be displaced by climate change as the country may lose 11% of its land by then. This means 18 million people may be forced to migrate due to sea-level rise alone. This is sure to put added strain on an already overpopulated city of Dhaka.