UK launches report on building climate resilience of vulnerable communities of deltas

The UK and the Government of West Bengal jointly launched the 5-year report of the UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) GCRF (Global Challenges Research Fund) Living Deltas Hubat at an event in Kolkata recently.

Md Ghulam Rabbani, Minister for Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources, Government of West Bengal, Dr Andrew Fleming, British Deputy High Commissioner to East and North East India, Barun K Ray, Additional Chief Secretary, Minister for Non-conventional and Renewable Energy Sources, Government of West Bengal, Rebecca Berry, Second Secretary, Climate and Energy Team, British High Commission, New Delhi launched the report.

The UKRI GCRF Living Deltas Hub has been working in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta in West Bengal and Bangladesh as well as the Red River and Mekong River deltas in Vietnam since February 2019.

The Hub (www.livingdeltas.org), led by Newcastle University, UK, brings together 22 Research Organisations from across the world to safeguard delta futures through more resilient communities and sustainable development and, at its peak, had 130 researchers and over 200 people associated directly with the project.  65 of these were early career researchers and, so, represent the next generation of deltas researchers.

Dr Andrew Fleming, British Deputy High Commissioner to East and Northeast India said: "The event highlights the critical UK-India collaboration in addressing the pressing challenges of climate change and biodiversity conservation in delta regions. It is wonderful to see the culmination of extensive collaborative research work done by Newcastle and Northumbria Universities in the UK with universities here for five years. We want to build on it. By working together, we are fostering sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable communities, particularly in the Sundarbans, and ensuring resilient futures for generations to come.”

Md Ghulam Rabbani, Hon’ble Minister, Non-Conventional and Renewable Energy Sources, Government of West Bengal said: “We are committed to promoting sustainable livelihoods through eco-tourism, sustainable fishing and organic agriculture. The Government of West Bengal continues to invest in capacity-building programmes, equipping the local population with tools to thrive in a climate-resilient future.”

Professor Andy Large, University of Newcastle, UKsaid: “The urgent need for the Hub has been clear, as human impacts on deltas increase, the necessity of sustainable development strategies underpinned by locally rooted knowledge becomes ever greater.”