UNESCO: List the Sundarbans as a World Heritage Site in Danger!

We recently delivered more than 150,000 comments to U.S. Export-Import Bank. Together, we sent a strong message to Ex-Im Bank that we won't tolerate our tax dollars being used to finance the dangerous Orion coal projects near the Sundarbans in Bangladesh.

But Orion-Khulna and Orion-Dhaka aren’t the only fossil fuel projects threatening this incredible UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thousands of Bangladeshis marched earlier this year in opposition to the proposed Rampal coal plant. Construction for the Rampal coal plant has already begun despite the project not having a thorough environmental impact assessment. This project would lead to millions of tons of coal being shipped through this sensitive ecosystem, home to the world’s largest mangrove forest and endangered species including the Royal Bengal Tiger.

The international community must respond quickly to protect this special place. UNESCO can bring much needed attention to the issue by acknowledging the danger fossil fuel projects pose to the Sundarbans.

Tell the UNESCO World Heritage Committee: List the Sundarbans as a World Heritage Site in Danger.

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Dear World Heritage Committee:

I stand with the people of Bangladesh and India to urge the World Heritage Committee to call on these two countries to protect the fragile biodiversity of the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans World Heritage sites from river destruction and pollution from proposed coal-fired power plants. Construction on these plants is poised to begin in late 2016.

Coal-fired power plants require huge amounts of freshwater, which is precious in a region stricken by drought and rising sea levels. The proposed plants would also create massive amounts of toxic waste that would eventually seep into sensitive rivers and groundwater in this seismically active and flood-prone region. The river that forms the heart of the Sundarbans would be dredged each year to make way for coal ships, causing untold harm to endangered Ganges river dolphins, Irrawaddy dolphins, and hundreds of species of fish, shrimp and crabs that provide food for nearly 1 million people each year. Mercury and acid gases from the smokestacks of the power plants would deposit in the Sundarbans, harming mangrove forests and all that depends on them, including the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger.

Bangladesh is a world leader in rooftop solar energy. But the government of India is financing and promoting the first and largest of the proposed coal plants next to the Sundarbans. Instead, India should help Bangladesh bring electricity to all through investments in utility-scale solar, which recently became cost-competitive in India.

I ask you to add the Sundarbans to the List of World Heritage in Danger and to urge Bangladesh and India to cancel the proposed coal plants and commit to clean, renewable energy and sustainable development in and around the Sundarbans.

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