One degree that changed everything: Rethinking our cities, restoring our seas

A couple of months ago, while speaking at a public event, I posed a simple question to the audience.

“How much cooler do you think Bangladesh was two decades ago?”

A few participants confidently replied, “Five degrees Celsius.” Others went even further and suggested “Ten degrees.”

When I revealed that Bangladesh’s average temperature has increased by roughly one degree Celsius over the last five decades, the room fell silent.

—One degree?

Most people could hardly believe it.

Yet that single degree has altered our lives so profoundly that many of us genuinely feel as though the Bangladesh of our childhood was five or even ten degrees cooler. The scorching afternoons, sleepless summer nights, prolonged heatwaves, erratic rainfall, flash floods, waterlogging, and shifting seasons have become part of our everyday reality.

This is perhaps the greatest misconception about climate change. We often assume that a one-degree increase is insignificant. But when that increase occurs across an entire country, year after year, it fundamentally changes ecosystems, weather patterns, agriculture, public health, and the way we live.

If one degree can create such disruption, imagine what lies ahead if we fail to act.

The Urbanization Challenge

Bangladesh is undergoing one of the fastest urban transformations in its history.

Today, nearly one-third of the country’s population lives in urban areas, and this figure continues to rise steadily. Cities are expanding, new townships are emerging, and millions of people are migrating from rural areas in search of economic opportunities.

Urbanization is neither a problem nor something to be feared. Throughout history, cities have served as engines of economic growth, innovation, education, and social progress. The real question is not whether we urbanize, but how we urbanize.

Globally, cities consume nearly three-quarters of the world’s energy and generate a similar proportion of carbon emissions. Much of that energy still comes from fossil fuels. As developing nations continue to grow, the challenge lies in balancing economic development with environmental sustainability.

Unfortunately, many cities around the world—including those in Bangladesh—have often pursued growth at the expense of nature.

Trees disappear to make way for concrete. Open spaces shrink. Wetlands are filled. Natural ventilation corridors are blocked. Buildings absorb and retain heat, transforming urban centers into giant heat traps.

The result is the Urban Heat Island effect.

In many dense neighborhoods, temperatures remain significantly higher than surrounding areas. Air conditioning usage rises. Electricity demand increases. Fossil fuel consumption grows. Carbon emissions increase further. The cycle becomes self-reinforcing.

The irony is striking. The very development intended to improve our quality of life can, if poorly planned, make our cities increasingly uncomfortable and vulnerable.

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From Development to Responsible Development

For decades, development was often measured by the number of roads built, buildings constructed, and projects completed.

Today, a more important question demands our attention:

How much nature are we preserving while we build?

Sustainable urbanization requires a new development paradigm—one that recognizes that environmental stewardship and economic growth are not opposing objectives but complementary ones.

One promising approach is the adoption of Green Plot Percentage (GPP) principles.

Rather than viewing greenery as an aesthetic afterthought, GPP measures the quantity and quality of vegetation integrated within developments. Trees, rooftop gardens, vertical greenery, landscaped open spaces, water bodies, and biodiversity-friendly designs become essential components of urban infrastructure.

The benefits extend far beyond appearance.

Urban greenery can reduce surrounding temperatures, improve air quality, absorb carbon dioxide, manage stormwater runoff, support biodiversity, and enhance physical and mental well-being.

Most importantly, it helps cities remain livable in an era of rising temperatures.

The future of urban development must therefore move beyond simply maximizing built-up space. It must focus on creating healthier, cooler, and more resilient communities. Policymakers, urban planners, and developers should work together to establish meaningful minimum Green Plot Percentage (GPP) standards across different categories of development, ensuring that nature remains an integral part of urban growth rather than a casualty of it.

Energy: The Missing Piece of the Sustainability Puzzle

While urban design and green infrastructure are essential, they represent only one side of the equation.

The other side is energy.

Every new apartment, office tower, factory, shopping mall, and transportation network requires energy to operate. As cities grow, energy demand inevitably rises.

The challenge is that much of the world’s energy production still depends on fossil fuels. The carbon emissions generated from these sources are among the primary drivers of global warming.

What makes the situation even more concerning is the feedback loop it creates.

As temperatures rise, cooling demand increases. As cooling demand increases, electricity consumption rises. If that electricity is generated from fossil fuels, carbon emissions increase further, contributing to even higher temperatures.

Breaking this cycle requires a fundamental shift in both how we generate energy and how we consume it.

Renewable energy is no longer a luxury reserved for advanced economies. It has become an economic and environmental necessity. Solar rooftops, distributed renewable energy systems, cleaner industrial technologies, and investments in green energy infrastructure can significantly reduce carbon emissions while enhancing energy security.

Equally important is energy efficiency.

The cleanest energy is often the energy we do not consume.

Energy-efficient buildings, passive cooling strategies, climate-responsive architecture, efficient lighting systems, smart technologies, and improved insulation can dramatically reduce energy demand without compromising comfort or productivity.

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Imagine cities where buildings work with nature rather than against it—maximizing daylight, encouraging natural ventilation, minimizing heat absorption, and generating part of their own energy requirements.

Such cities would consume less energy, emit less carbon, and offer a healthier future for generations to come. To put the opportunity into perspective, a 100-kilowatt solar photovoltaic system can offset approximately 50 to 120 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually and potentially avoid between 1,250 and 3,000 metric tons of emissions over its lifetime.

The future of sustainable urbanization rests on three interconnected pillars: greener cities, cleaner energy, and more efficient consumption.

Yet sustainability does not stop at the city limits. The same development choices that influence our urban climate also shape the health of our rivers, coastlines, and oceans.

The Silent Crisis in Our Oceans

While the impacts of climate change are becoming increasingly visible on land, another environmental crisis is unfolding beneath the waves.

Bangladesh possesses enormous marine potential. The Bay of Bengal supports the livelihoods of millions of people, directly and indirectly. Fishers, processors, traders, transport workers, exporters, and coastal communities all depend on healthy marine ecosystems.

Yet these ecosystems are facing unprecedented pressure.

Ocean warming, acidification, plastic pollution, overexploitation of resources, industrial discharge, and habitat degradation are threatening the long-term sustainability of marine biodiversity.

Many coastal communities are already reporting declining fish availability and changing migration patterns of marine species.

The consequences extend far beyond environmental concerns.

When fish stocks decline, incomes fall.

When incomes fall, poverty increases.

When poverty increases, communities become more vulnerable to economic and social shocks.

The health of our oceans is therefore directly linked to food security, employment generation, export earnings, and the overall resilience of coastal populations.

Protecting marine ecosystems is not merely an environmental obligation; it is an economic imperative.

The Plastic Tide

Among the many threats confronting our oceans, plastic pollution remains one of the most visible and preventable.

Every year, enormous quantities of plastic waste enter rivers, canals, and drainage systems before eventually reaching the Bay of Bengal.

Once there, the consequences can persist for decades.

Marine animals mistake plastic for food. Coastal habitats become degraded. Fishing activities are disrupted. Microplastics enter the food chain and increasingly find their way into the water we drink and the food we consume.

The solution requires action at every level.

Governments must strengthen waste management systems and enforce environmental regulations.

Industries must embrace circular economy principles, reduce unnecessary plastic usage, and invest in sustainable alternatives.

Cities must improve waste collection, segregation, and recycling infrastructure.

Citizens must adopt more responsible consumption and disposal habits.

Plastic pollution is one of the few environmental problems where every stakeholder can contribute directly to the solution.

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A Shared Responsibility

Climate change, urban heat, energy consumption, marine degradation, and pollution are often discussed as separate issues.

In reality, they are deeply interconnected.

The carbon emitted from our buildings, vehicles, and industries contributes to global warming.

Global warming intensifies urban heat.

Urban expansion affects natural ecosystems.

Pollution from our cities eventually reaches rivers and oceans.

The environmental challenges we face are not isolated events. They are components of the same system.

Consequently, the solutions must also be integrated.

Governments alone cannot solve these problems.

Businesses alone cannot solve them either.

Academia, civil society, development partners, communities, and individual citizens must all become active participants in shaping a sustainable future.

Businesses must move beyond compliance and embrace environmental leadership.

Governments must establish enabling policies, long-term incentives, and effective enforcement mechanisms.

Consumers must support sustainable practices and make responsible choices.

The path forward demands collaboration rather than confrontation.

The Future We Choose

World Environment Day is not merely a symbolic observance.

It is a reminder.

A reminder that the one-degree increase we often dismiss has already transformed our lives.

A reminder that the concrete we pour today will influence the climate of our cities tomorrow.

A reminder that the carbon we emit today will shape the world our children inherit.

And a reminder that the plastic we throw away does not disappear—it eventually finds its way back into our rivers, oceans, ecosystems, and perhaps even our bodies.

Most importantly, it is a reminder that the future remains within our control.

The shade of a tree planted in our cities and the fish swimming in our oceans may seem unrelated. Yet both depend on the same choices we make today. Both are connected by the same climate, the same ecosystems, and ultimately the same responsibility.

Sustainability is not about protecting isolated pieces of nature. It is about protecting the interconnected systems that make human life, economic prosperity, and social well-being possible.

The question is not whether change is coming.

The question is whether we will lead that change or be forced to react to its consequences.

A sustainable tomorrow will not be built by governments alone, businesses alone, or environmentalists alone. It will be built through a shared commitment from policymakers, industries, academia, development partners, communities, and citizens.

We are not merely beneficiaries of the environment.

We are its custodians.

And if one degree has already changed so much, the choices we make today may determine whether the next degree becomes a crisis—or an opportunity to build a greener, more resilient, and more sustainable Bangladesh.

The author is a sustainability advocate, and a CEO, Rancon with experience in the real estate and marine fisheries sectors. The views expressed are his own.