LANGUAGE IN

REPORTING
CLIMATE
CHANGE
A SOUTH ASIAN STUDY

Birendra Raj Bajracharya, April 1, 2014, Global Landscapes Forum, Nepal

 CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

NEPAL

BANGLADESH

AFGHANISTAN

BHUTAN

SRI LANKA

MALDIVES

David Stubbs, Nepal

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In producing a report as geographically spread out as this one, we were
lucky to have the support of our Climate Tracker Network. Without them,
this report would not have been possible. Santosh Koirala, our intern,
winner of the South Asia challenge and contributor to this report. Arif
Chowdhry, Afrida Asad andAshish Niraula.

Thank you to Lisun Asab Khan, Ramesh Bhusal, Shihab Khaledin, Iftekhar
Mahmud and Krishna Adhikari for sharing your valuable insights and
enriching this report.
 INTRODUCTION
Listen:
My father speaks urdu,
Language of dancing peacocks,
Rosewater fountains-
Even its curses are beautiful.
He speaks hindi,
Suave and melodic,
Earthy punjabi,
Salty-rich as saag paneer,
Coastal swahili laced with Arabic.
He speaks Gujarati, solid ancestral pride.

Five languages,
five different worlds.
Yet English
Shrinks
Him
Down
Before white men.
Shailja Patel, Migritude

South Asia has a shared history. The links and ties between all of the countries
forming this huge geographical mass of landscapes and people are embedded
in its culture. And as much as current social narratives in each country bemoan
the westernization of local culture, this is not something new.

Almost all of South Asia has at some point been colonized, which has meant
that westernization, with all its cons and a few pros has been around as early as
the 17th century. Of course, colonization was more about economic gain than for
influencing the culture of South Asia, but this was one of the most poignant
outcomes. The role that media has played in influencing the culture of South
Asia is emerging as a key contributing factor.

And one of the most important aspects of culture is what is used to convey and
record- the language. South Asia is home to hundreds of languages, their unique
dialects and intonations. Along with other indo European languages such as
portuguese, a creole version of which is still spoken in Sri Lanka today, English
was introduced into this geography. And because it was spoken among the
ruling, and those who interacted and benefited from those in power, it remains
spoken among the elite/educated/upwardly mobile in these countries, long after
independence.

MD Kamrul Hassan
Theres no denying that English is the language currency of the world. Therefore it
makes sense that it is used throughout South Asia as an official language in
governance, education and lawmaking, to enable communication in a globalized
world.

But when we speak about communication, the vast majority of South Asia does not
speak English as a first language. However, most messaging and communication,
even relating to these communities that do not speak english, is usually done in that
very language, where print media is concerned. This cuts off communities from
information that may be vital to them, but also cuts them off from expressing their
issues, and what they want done about it. In fact, this tendency for media reporting
to be done in English may effectively be contributing to suppressing local voices.

Across South Asia,local voices on climate change are more important than ever.
Communities that are feeling the impacts of climate change, and have the most to
lose from it, are the cornerstone for communication. Not only as receivers of climate
messaging, but also as voices that can highlight why it is important for their
governments to act today.

In this study, we set out to explore media landscapes in each country, and to discover
whether current reporting in Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and
Afghanistan adequately conveys climate change issues. We looked at this particularly
with the lens of language, and how it impacts the quantity, quality and accessibility
of reporting in each country.

One thing we found across the region is that Climate Change is severely
underreported both local media and national media. This was true across English
and Indigenous languages.

There are indications in each country that reporting on climate change takes place
primarily in English. This is in many ways a colonial inheritance of class, language and
governmentality. According to Shihab Khaledin, a Bengali journalist from
Bangladesh, some newspapers such as The Daily Star, The Dhaka Tribune, The
Observer etc publish on climate change issues once or twice in a week or in the
editorial page. [However]Bengali newspapers such as the Prothom Alo, The Jugnator,
The Somokal also publish articles but after intervals or on special issues.

Krishna Adhikari (Nepal) also highlights that writing in Nepali about scientific reports
or new findings is mostly done in English.There is jargon in scientific papers that do
not have word-for-word translation. Many words in English itself are difficult to
translate in Nepali. Take a word adaptation for example, we have to find a way
around (in this case; process of adjusting to new climate) to convey its meaning in
local language. We dont have a specific Nepali word for it.. he says.

Wook Bang, Nepal

MD Kamrul Hassan
Another key finding of this research is the link between language, literacy and print
media. In all contexts, literacy rates are low, barring the Maldives. Literacy directly
impacts the ability of local people to access print media publications, the
complexity and the content focuses of local publications. This also explains the
growing popularity of TV, social media, and the established popularity of Radio as a
means of communication. However, the ability of these mediums to relate complex
issues like Climate Change while maintaining their focus on entertainment and
their language challenges is yet to be seen.

Our research also uncovered a number of other factors that impact reporting on
climate change in these countries. This includes a lack of capacity of journalists to
write on these issues, and a lack of interest from media groups to publish on
climate change.

While few of the journalists we spoke to considered that there was any government
interference in their reporting on climate change, our review of media freedom in
each country suggests differently. While climate change currently is not seen as
being a particularly controversial issue, there is little government interference in
most contexts. However, due to strict media laws and regulations, as well as
incidents of violence against journalists, there is significant self censorship. In the
case of the Maldives for example, we found that journalists who wrote about Saudi
oil investments in the country had been detained as the government was eager to
push the deal through.

South Asia, although connected through culture and geography, is one of the most
linguistically diverse regions of the world. In this report, we have explored each
country individually, to look at media landscapes and the languages of climate
reporting. While some findings, such as those highlighted above, are applied across
countries, it is important to note each unique context has its own complexities. We
have tried to capture these in this report- and to help us better understand how to
reach not only some of the worlds most vulnerable communities, but the worlds
largest.

With close to one quarter of the worlds population, half the worlds poor, and some
of the most rapid increases in consumption growth rates around the world, many
see South Asia as the most critical region for climate change. For the 1.8 billion
people who live in the region, their understandings of this uncertain future are
directly determined by the languages they speak, the information they are
presented, and the media they consume. It is therefore critical to take a deep look
into the role of language, media and climate change in the region in order to
better understand what messages are being conveyed, to whom and how we
might be able to improve them.

Lukas Kozmus, Nepal

MD Kamrul Hassan
 NEPAL
Nepal is one of the few countries in South Asia
without a colonial past- and therefore one of the
few that doesnt have an official independence
day. It is known as the birthplace of Lord
Buddha and is the only country where a living
goddess (Kumari) is worshipped.
Nepal is home to some of the most extreme
places on the earth such as the highest lake on
PRODUCTION
the earth (Tilicho, 4800 meters), the deepest
gorges (1200 meter) in Kaligandaki, the highest
valley on earth (Arun valley) and the tallest
grassland in the world in Chitwan. Nepal is
home to 8 of the 10 highest mountains in the
world.
Vulnerability
All of Nepal is a part of the Ganga Basin, and it is
estimated that approximately 70% of dry season
flow and 40% of annual flow of the Ganga River
comes through Nepal.
Snow-melt discharges from Himalayas
maintain the water levels in downstream rivers
and wetlands and thereby provide vital
ecosystem services and support livelihoods of
millions of Nepalese. There are about 3,252
glaciers with total coverage of 5,323 km2 in
Nepal. Similarly, there are about 2323 glacial
lakes located in this region with total coverage
area of 75.70 Km2.
Due to the impacts of global warming and
climate change glaciers are retreating at
alarming rate of upto 60m annually and glacial
lakes are expanding rapidly. Glacial Lake
Outburst Flood (GLOF) disaster poses imminent
risk to downstream infrastructure, households
and livelihood. In Nepal at least 12 GLOF events
have been reported to date and about 20
glacial lakes are identified as potentially
dangerous from GLOF.
The agriculture sector contributes 35% to GDP
and is the main source of employment for 76%
of the population. About 65% agriculture is
rain-fed in Nepalese context rendering it most
vulnerable to the changing climate. Decreasing
trend of rainfall has been recorded since 1960,
while in general temperature has been rising
across Nepal since 1975. Winter drought during
2008-2009 led to drop of wheat and barley
yield by as much as 15% and 17% respectively at
national level. Similar case of rainfall deficit in
Eastern Terai, in 2005, had led to reduction of
crop up to 12.5% that year, while western Terai
faced heavy rain with flood that same year
suffering 30% loss of production.
More than 1/4th of Nepalese are below national
poverty line. Nepals GHG emission is mere
0.027% of total global emission, yet it is at the
receiving end and is the 4th most vulnerable
country to climate change.
About 1.9 million people are estimated to be
highly vulnerable and another 10 million
exposed to increasing risks of climate
change.

In the year 2010, government of Nepal

established Climate Change Management
Division in the Ministry of Environment. It
was followed by preparation of National
Adaptation Programme of Action (2010)-first
official initiative to mainstream adaptation
into national policies.

In January 2011, the government endorsed

climate change policy 2011 with the objective
of establishing climate change center, and
adopting a low carbon development path by
pursuing climate resilient socio-economic
development among others (ICIMOD).
In line with Nepals Climate Change Policy-
2011 and as a means of implementing NAPA
and integrating adaptation options into
development policy and planning processes,
Nepal approved the National Framework for
Local Adaptation.Plan for Action in the same
year.
Cultural diversity
Nepal is the land of multi lingual, multi-
PRODUCTION
religious, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic
diverse society of as many as 127
communities.
The population projection by Central Bureau
of Statistics, Nepal for 2016 shows the
population to be 28,469,460 of which urban
centres account for 42 percent of the
population, according to Economic Survey
2015-16.
The national language Nepali is spoken
throughout the country as it serves as the
lingua franca for communication among
different language groups. Nepali language
was developed from Vedic Period. Many
more words are imported from Sanskrit
language and Vedas. The bulk of mother
tongues other than Nepali are Tibeto-
Burman. The high altitude areas belong to
linguistic communities speaking Central
Bodish, West Himalayan, and West Bodish
languages.
In the lowland of the Terai, Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-
Burman, Munda, and Northern Dravidian languages
are spoken.
The extensive use of Nepali language started during
the latter half of the 18th century when Prithvi
Narayan Shah eventually unified Nepal in his
attempt to protect the country from the claws of
the British Empire that was ruling India in the
southern flank by uniting small kingdoms. With the
establishment and the eastward expansion of the
kingdom, the area where Nepali is spoken, also
expanded from west to east. Nepali, the language
of the founder of modern Nepal, became the
national language of the kingdom.
The constitution of Nepal recognizes other
languages spoken as the mother tongue in Nepal
as national languages that correspond to
indigenous language. Indigenous languages are
spoken in areas inhabited by specific ethnic groups.
There are 123 languages spoken as mother tongue
(CBS, 2011). Nepali is spoken as mother tongue by
44.6 % of the total population followed by Maithili
(11.7%). While English is widely used in business and
government and small educated elite, Hindi is
widely understood in the Terai lowlands and the
Kathmandu Valley.

MEDIA IN NEPAL
Nepals independent and state-run
radio stations cover almost all parts of
the country. The number of FM stations
on air increased dramatically from 2006
onwards following the end of the Maoist
insurgency.
In 2013, there were 515 radio stations
and 58 television channels in Nepal.
Independent radios are filling the
information lacunae left by television,
newspapers and the internet.
The state owned Radio Nepal
broadcasts mainly in Nepali, but it also
airs news bulletins in the following local
and international languages: Avadhi,
Bhojpuri, Doteli, English, Gurung, Hindi,
Magar, Limbu, Magar, Kham Magar,
Maithili, Newari, Rai Bantawa, Sherpa,
Sanskrit, Tamang, Tharu East, Tharu
West and Urdu.
Nepal has a vibrant newspaper industry.
As of 2014, there were 6894 total
registered newspapers in Nepal
including daily, weekly, fortnightly and
others (CBS). Although newspapers do
not reach as many Nepalese as radio
and television, they have a great deal of
influence on decision makers in
government and business.
Currently, 93.07% of the newspapers
published in Nepal are in non-
indigenous languages. Among them,
68.42% are published in the official
language Nepali and 24.65% in English,
Hindi and English-Nepali. Indigenous
people make up 37.2% of national
population but media in indigenous
languages accounts for only 6.58% of
the total.
The status of Indigenous media was very
poor during the early 21st century.
Barbara Weibel, Nepal
Only a few newspapers, Sandhya Times,
Inap, Swaniga and others were
published in Newari, but after linguistic
rights were enshrined on the Interim
Constitution 2007 indigenous media
flourished. Now there are 43 Newari, 13
Tharu, 10 Tamang and 2 Rai language
newspapers.
According to the Department of
Information, there are 432 indigenous
journalists among a total of 3,066 in
Nepal, however the numbers vary
according to sources.
Gorkhapatra is Nepals oldest
newspaper. Gorkhapatra daily has been
providing space to publish content in 26
different languages.
Regional groups like Madhesis have
been publishing newspapers in their
own languages, like Maithili, Bhojpuri
etc. and different languages groups like
Limbu, Rai, Tamang, Tharu, Gurung etc.
have been publishing newspapers in
their own language.
Almost all government offices subscribe
to the government dailies, but their
popularity amongst the general public is
declining. Nepal has only one domestic
news agency, RSS, which is mainly used
by the government media.
The government and media use Nepali
more widely than other languages.
However, some languages like Newari,
Hindi, Maithili, Bantawa, Tharu, Magar,
and so on have been used by Radio
Nepal in broadcasting news and other
programmes.
 AFP PHoto Nepal

In Kathmandu, there are two weeklies

Print media is growing in popularity but its
published in Newari, a language widely
accessibility is the major hurdle in
spoken in the Kathmandu valley: Jhigu
geographically isolated parts of the country.
Swaniga and Deshay Maru Jhya. Daily
Similarly, the accessibility to TV is poor in
newspaper Simanchal in the southeastern
most of the rural parts of the country. In
city of Janakpur, is published in Maitheli.
filling this void, independent stations and
This is Nepals largest minority language. In
extensive community radio stations play a
the eastern city of Dharan, a weekly
crucial role.
newspaper called Numafund is published
in the local language Limbu.
The FM radios cover almost all regions of
country provide instant news to large
The number of Internet users in Nepal
audience across the country. However, no
increased exponentially in the past two
radio has a truly national reach across the
decades - from less than 50 users in 1995 to
nation (Radio Nepal comes closest,
11.89 million users in mid-October 2015. The
reaching more than 80% of the population
steep rise is mainly triggered by the
and broadcasting in 21 languages).
popularity of social media platforms like
Facebook, Twitter, etc..
Irrespective of the outreach, it can be said
that Nepalese media reports meagrely on
Climate Reporting in Nepalese Media
the issue of climate change. English
newspapers have played a fraction of their
The post-1990 and 2015 constitutions both
role in covering the climate issue in Nepal.
guaranteed freedom of expression and,
Excerpts from international newspapers on
despite the continued challenges inherent
climate and few opinions appear time and
in protecting media freedom, the country is
again but the factual analysis at grass-root
recognised for having one of the most open
level in local situation is meagre.
media systems in the region.

Various environmental programs are

Nepali is the most common language used
broadcast through TVs and radios at times
in media in the Nepalese context except
but they particularly attract less audience
for a few newspapers and TV shows.
as compared to other entertainment
English, on the other hand, has created its
programs.
own niche in media realm. The literate,
mostly urban class of Nepal and most
internet users prefer English as the primary
Nepali language coverage in media has
source of news.
increased in past few years but is still at
nascent stage. Part of the reason can be
The trend of not using mother tongue, not
attributed to the political instability of
only in wider social contexts but also at
Nepal that has been overshadowing the
home, is increasing among the young
climate related issues and other can be due
indigenous/tribal and marginalized people
to lack of data availability at local level.
This is due to the dominant role of Nepali
Conversely, climate reporting in indigenous
and English in mass media and education
language is almost absent.
narrowing scope of publications in
Reporting on particular events that damage
indigenous languages. The indigenous
life and property and linking it to the
media also remained suppressed before
impacts of climate change, but in most
the early 21st century; it was only after
other cases they often go unreported due
interim constitution 2007 enshrined
to lack of substantial research to back it up.
linguistic rights which led to the growth in
indigenous media.

The inability of journalists to perform effective
investigative journalism, and paucity of
resourcesavailability are few problems holding
back extensive reporting in climate issue, says
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC
Krishna Prasad Adhikari, Executive editor of
National News Agency.The medias failure to
grasp the urgency of reporting in climate issue
was glaringly visible when it failed to cover
extensively the most important climate
summits and conferences at the international
level (like COPs). Kathmandu post, the
countrys leading English newspaper, run a
couple of stories on COP from media outlets
and news agencies like Reuters, AFP,
Guardian, etc, but there were few to no local
stories on Nepal.
Few COPs like Copenhagen and Paris got
some coverage (at Copenhagen, Nepal had a
few of its own programmes like Sumitters'
Summit and a march to draw attention
towards the plight of the Himalayas),
otherwise there is minimal or no coverage at
all, said Pragati Shahi, a Nepal based
journalist.
Nepalese media lack enough writers reporting
about environment and climate, creating
lacunae in the coverage of these issues.
Lukas Kozmus
However, the grim face of climate reporting
can be altered through capacity building
among Nepali writers and encourage them to
engage in reporting about climate issue,
Adhikari argues. Developing skills among
Nepali journalists to exploit the new
opportunities offered by social media and
data journalism is pivotal to inform people
more about climate change he added.
A study on radio program covering climate
issue found that what Nepalese participants
had learnt about climate change from the
media was a series of alarming facts rather
than any useful information about ways in
which local impacts or risks could be
mitigated. It suggests that to improve climate
change communication through the
Nepalese media, collaboration between
citizens, experts and agencies should be
considered. It also focuses on the the need to
develop more interactive programmes with
the involvement of rural people and
mechanisms for the development and
distribution of localised programmes in local
media.

BANGLADESH
While children in most of the world are taught
about the four seasons - summer, autumn,
winter, spring in their geography lesson,
children in Bangladesh are taught about six
seasons. Bangladesh, despite having a mainly
sub tropical monsoon climate, divides its
seasons into six-Grisma (summer), Barsa (rainy),
Sarat (autumn), Hemanta (late autumn), Shhit
(winter) and Basanta (spring). That is not all that
distinguishes P R O D Uthe
Bangladesh, C Tcountry
I O Nis also
home to the majestic Bengal tiger, whose roar
can be heard from a distance of almost 3 km
away. Bangladesh is also one of the largest
textile exporters in the world. Dhaka was
famous for its muslin saris, particularly the
technique of Jamdani weaving, which has been
declared by UNESCO as one of the
masterpieces of humanitys intangible cultural
heritage.
The most vulnerable country in the world
Unfortunately, Bangladesh is also distinguished
as one of the most vulnerable countries to the
impacts of climate change in the world. n fact,
was ranked in 2011 by Maplecroft as the most
vulnerable country to the impacts of Climate
Change.
This is not surprising: Bangladesh and India
account for 86% of mortality from tropical
cyclones, as they face some of the rarest and
most severe storm categories.
Probal Rashid, 2016
Bangladesh is not only exposed to sea level rise- a 1
meter rise in sea levels would inundate 17% of the
country- but is also regularly impacted by cyclones.
Sidr in 2007 caused 3,406 deaths and injured
55,000 people. And the losses to the economy
have also been huge- 5.9% of GDP was lost to
storms between 1998 and 2009 in Bangladesh.
Over a period of 100 years, 508 cyclones have
struck the Bay of Bengal Region and 17% were in
Bangladesh.
And for a country where 50% of the population is
employed in agriculture, there could be a decrease
of up to 50% in the wheat yields due to heat stress,
if CO2 levels doubled. This could lead to an
increase in poverty of 15% by 2030. There is also
high dependence on rainwater as a source of
water for irrigation- and while there has been an
increase in March-May rainfall by 3.4% , there has
been a decrease in June to August rainfall by 1.7%
between 1960 and 2003. This is consistent with
trends observed throughout South Asia- wetter
monsoons, drier winters.
The Bangladesh Government submitted its INDC
to the UNFCCC in 2015, and while it explicitly states
that the focus will be on building resilienceas it
accounts for less than 0.35% of global CO2
emissions, it also pledges a 5% reduction in
emissions as compared to BAU by 2030.
It also promises an additional 15%, contingent
on financial and technical support from other
countries.

Bangladesh also has institutional arrangements

in place for Climate Change and a number of
policies and plans. The Bangladesh Climate
Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP),
Renewable Energy Policy 2008, the Energy
Efficiency and Conservation Master Plan (E&CC
Master Plan), the forthcoming National
Adaptation Plan, the National Sustainable
Development Strategy, the Perspective Plan
(Vision 2021) and the Sixth (and forthcoming
seventh) Five Year Plan.

However, the NDC does not rule out coal, and

currently a number of coal fired power plants,
some funded by India and China, are under
MR Hassan
construction in Bangladesh and have drawn
criticism for endangering the Mangroves of the
country.

But the Bangladesh Government argues that

coal may be the only way it can meet the energy
East Pakistan finally gained Independence from
demands of its growing population- especially
Pakistan in 1971, and interestingly, one of the
now that the reserves of natural gas that it has
initial causes of friction which led to the
previously relied on are running out. The last
independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan was
census of the country, in 2011, put the population
the 1957 Bengali Language Movement.
at 149,772,364 people, and UN estimates put the
PRODUCTION
population at 162,911,000 in 2016.
The Bengali Language Movement relates to the
movement by the people by then East Pakistan
Of this large population, it was estimated in 2010
to push for their local language,
that 47.3% of the population was employed in
Agriculture.
Bengali, to be recognised as one of the official
languages of the country, and allow for its use in
This means that half the people of Bangladesh
official domains, media, currency, education and
rely directly on the environment for their source
others. Being a part of Pakistan, Urdu was the
of income and sustenance- and while statistics
official language- something that was inherently
suggest that the dependence on agriculture is
foreign to the people of Bengal. The Language
decreasing as other industries emerge, it still
movement was one of the first steps in
makes up a considerable chunk of the GDP.
Bangladeshs movement for independence from
Pakistan.
Language history of Bangladesh

Bangladesh was initially known as East Pakistan

after the partition of Pakistan from India. The
huge country of India was between East and
West Pakistan, causing considerable challenges
in administration and governance as well as a
lack of harmony especially in terms of culture.
 .

Pavel Rahman, AP,June 1, 2010

As one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with a huge role played in
its history by language, it is not surprising that a multitude of different languages exist
within Bangladesh. In fact, Bangladesh translated to Bangla- the language, and desh-
the landP of.
R While
ODU C T IisOtheNnational language, spoken by 98% of the population,
Bengali
there are an estimated 40 languages spoken in Bangladesh. English has no official status
in Bangladesh, but is used in some government documentation, education- and like
most of the rest of South Asia with a colonial past, is spoken widely by the urban elite.

Some of the other major languages spoken in Bangladesh include Chittagonian, with
13,000,000 speakers, Rangpuri with 10,325,000 speakers, Sylheti with 8,500,000 speakers,
Bihari with 250,000 speakers, and even Rohingya, with 200,000 speakers, most of whom
are refugees from Burma.

Bangladesh is also home to a number of UNESCOs identified endangered languages,

that have few surviving speakers left in the world, and also that do not have a script, in
many cases. The language of Asho Chin, spoken in Myanmar and Bangladesh, has only
2340 remaining speakers, while Koda, spoken only in Bangladesh and India, has only
1600 speakers left.

MEDIA IN BANGLADESH
Following a number of incidents in 2015,
Bangladeshs media was ranked as Not
Free by an analysis of the Freedom of
the Press by Freedom House. Four
bloggers, who criticised
fundamentalism in Islam were
murdered, as well as abusive legal cases
against a number of media companies,
that have been politically motivated. The
press is also constrained by sedition and
libel laws, which constitute as a criminal
offence. They are usually used against
journalists.
There is also some self censorship- with
many bloggers and journalists receiving
threats, that either cause them to
restrict what they write about, or in
some cases to even move away from the
country and write from elsewhere.
The number of newspapers in
Bangladesh appears to be falling. In
2002 there were a total of 1376
Newspapers published including dailies,
bi-weekly publications and monthlies,
while in 2013 there were 459. The
political reforms and changes in the
constitution may have something to do
with the falling numbers, but also
because print media in Bangladesh is
falling in profitability compared to other
forms of growing media
.Not surprisingly, most reporting in
Bangladesh takes place in Bangla,
followed by a few in English. In 2002 for
example, Dhaka was reported to have 21
newspapers, of which 16 were in Bangla
and 5 in English. ChittagongThad 7
newspapers, five of which were in
Bengali and 2 in English.
Asif Rahman Porosh, Dhaka
Khulna had 6 newspapers, 1 in English.
Jessore has 3 papers, all in Bengali, while
Rajshahi has 2 Bengali Newspapers and
Dinajpur has 1 newspaper, which is in
Bengali.
elevision in Bangladesh began in the 1960s,
with state owned channels broadcasting.
The real breakthrough came in 1999 when
private broadcasting was legally authorised.
While there is a state owned Bangladesh TV
channel, which also has FM radio stations,
and regulates much of the TV broadcasting,
there are many cable TV channels that are
widely accessed. There are around 34
Bangladeshi TV channels, and 100s of cable
TV channels. TV is usually relied on as the
source of news for most of the population of
Bangladesh and most broadcasting is in
Bangla. There are a total of 42 Radio stations
in Bangladesh of which 16 are community
Radio.
In terms of audience, the Statistical Year
book of Bangladesh in 2013 reported that
44.6% of the population read newspapers,
only 8.46% listened to the radio, 58.91%
watched TV and 3.08% accessed the
internet. TV therefore is the medium with
possibly the widest reach, followed by
newspapers.
However, more recent estimates suggest
that the popularity and use of the internet
and social media in the country are
increasing. Despite the tapping of emails by
journalists and the banning of facebook
temporarily in 2015, the number of Internet
users in Bangladesh in 2015 was reported to
be 24.33 million people- almost 15% of the
total population.

Climate Reporting in Bangladesh
Bangladesh, a country whose history is
intertwined with its language, naturally has a
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC
media landscape that is dominated by Bangla
as a language. Like most of South Asia with a
colonised past, English is considered to be the
language of elites, of those in circles of power,
even though it does not have official status.
And in climate vulnerable Bangladesh, there
does seem to be a balance between reporting in
English and in Bangla. The people who make
reports in Climate change should have strong
knowledge in English Language. Otherwise it
wont be possible to work in this field. All the
reports, analysis, research papers from
government or international or United Nations
based journals are published in English.
Later we translate them in local language to
make it acceptable and understandable. says
Iftekhar Mahmoud, from the Bangla publication
Prothom alo. He feels that in order to reach local
people, reporting in Bangla is important, but
translating is possibly a challenge.
It is always best to publish reports in Bangla but
the interpretation should have clarity, and
proper translation is a must. he says, That is
why journalist should have profound knowledge
in Bangla as well
Mohammad Rakibul Hasan, May 11, 2011, Global landscape forum
Lisun Asab Khan, a journalist from Bangladesh
also feels the importance of translating from
English to Bangla- particularly since there is
little data available in Bangla about climate
science. However, Lisun also writes for some
web portals, and feels that Bangla articles are
more widely read by the public. In the web
portal, we can see the viewer numbers in both
Bangla and English version, our news also get
shared in Facebook. From that statistics, it can
be seen that Bangla news have much more
viewers than English and Bangla news are
shared more than English ones. So we
obviously prefer Bangla news reporting rather
than English. And most media make report in
Bangla as well.
And while internet access may be growing in
Bangladesh, Iftekhar Mahmud feels that it is
still dominated by print media, and that it has
the widest reach. In Bangladesh, print, social,
TV or radio media all are highly used. Though
Print media is widely used in every corner of
the country to give detail information to
public, national media and social media plays
most influential part to make it more credible
and reachable. TV media can reach all the
people, literate or Illiterate but I personally
believe print media is more preferable to mass
people.

Lisun feels that TV might be the most accessible to
people, adding Mainly the people who work for
climate change and interested to know about
environment, are our audience. I usually write on
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC
agriculture but as social media is not available to
the root level people, sometimes we need to take
initiatives to brief them verbally about any news
content to make them aware.
In the face of low reporting on climate change in
Bangladesh, it is important to ask whether the
message of climate change is actually relevant to
the people of Bangladesh? Are they interested in it,
or is it yet another policy level dialogue that the
people most impacted feel disconnected from.
Lisun and Iftekhar both feel that climate change is
a topic of interest to the people but in different
ways.
Iftekhar feels that in Bangladesh, people are
concerned about climate change. They know they
could be the next victim of climate change. Thats
why they are interested to know what is actually
going on and what are the measures taken here.
Lisun feels that people are more interested in
accountability-nowadays people are more
interested to know about the initiatives and their
follow up. They want to know where all the funding
goes; international aid and funding in the name of
tackling climate change and development.
Shafiul umam, Bangladesh, Dhaka
And both feel that in the face of political
disruptions to media reporting and also
potential issues of corruption and a lack of will to
tackle climate change, as seen in the case of
increasing investment in coal power plants,
Iftikhar feels that the media is an important
agenda setter. Its only media that can influence
people. I dont see any other platform to stir
public like it. Climate journalism is the strongest
and the most influential platform to connect the
mass people and to make them aware about
climate change he says.
People know about climate science. They know
what is going on. But now its necessary to take
steps and make investigation if the works are
being properly done. And for this media has no
alternative. Media helps to set up mind for local
people aware about climate change and make
them concerned about the local development
and climate works follow up.
In contrast, Shihab Khaledin who writes for the
daily Jugantor feels that climate change is
reported on often, but just that most reporting
takes place in English, and sometimes Bengali,
that makes it difficult for non Bangla speakers to
access- although he feels that Bangla is widely
spoken and that this is a small demographic.

The Daily Star, The Dhaka Tribune, The
Observer etc. publish on climate change
issue once or twice in a week or on
editorial page regularly. Besides, some
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC
Bengali newspaper for example, The Prothom
Alo, The Jugantor, The Somokal etc. also
publish article on climate change following a
regular interval or in some special issues says
Shihab.
But the overarching message from both Lisun
and Iftekhar is that there are many obstacles for
journalists for reporting in local languages- and
while the lack of data available in Bangla on
climate change impacts in Bangladesh is
mentioned as one- political interference in
media reporting is mentioned as another.
Shihab Khaledin feels that while political
interference is not currently a determining
factor in the climate reporting landscape in
Bangladesh, the lack of opportunities available
to journalists who report in local languages may
be a barrier.
.Climate change reporting should be published
in all languages and for this we need to make
more and more people realize about the
importance of the environment, for example,
M. uz Zaman, Dhaka, AFP
how a river should exists, why a forest
should be intact for us and for our future
generationsand why it is important to
publish in local languages. We need to
target the young side of the population
says Shihab.
But it is also important to note that while
Bangladesh is home to many languages,
including some that are on UNESCO's list of
endangered languages, there is little mention
of how to get the message of climate change
to such communities. Bangla dominates the
media landscape in the country, followed by
English. It does appear that minority
languages are given a backseat in media
reportage, and particularly then reportage on
climate change- and this is something that
the media of Bangladesh doesnt seem to
have even realised at this point.

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan is home to some of the most
culturally and historically important
monuments in the world. According to the
BBC, the worlds first oil paintings were in fact
found in caves in Bamiyan in Afghanistan- in
650 BC, and not in Renaissance Europe, which
is where most of us associate the art with.
Bamiyan also hosted an amazing Buddhist
P R O Dthe
civilization between U 2nd
C TandI O9th
Ncentury,
before Islamic conversions took place.
Afghanistan was home to two of the worlds
largest standing Buddhas- until the Taliban
destroyed them in 2001.
And while security challenges have plagued
Afghanistan for the past 30 years, it is not the
only factor that threatens Afghanistans
development. Afghanistan is ranked as one of
the most vulnerable countries in the world to
the adverse impacts of climate change,
according to its INDC submitted to the
UNFCCC secretariat.
Climate Change in Afghanisan
The Afghanistan INDC reports an increase of
0.6 degrees celsius in the countrys mean
annual temperature since 1960. There is also
evidence of decreasing rainfall.There is also a
high indication that the country will face an
omar Sobhani, Reuters, 2015
overall increase in mean annual temperature-
under an optimistic scenario, the projected
warming is approximately 1.5 degrees celsius
until 2050 and around 2.5 degrees celsius until
2100. For a pessimistic scenario- there is an
extreme warning of at least 3 degrees celsius
until 2050 and further warming of up to 7
degrees by 2100.
And because most of these changes will be
concentrated in the East, North and Central
Highlands, this will be even more worrying- as
these are the areas where most of the
agricultural productivity takes place.
The rest of Afghanistan, a landlocked country,
is made up almost entirely of mountains-
which means that these plains are the only
areas where agricultural cultivation is possible.
The implications climate change has had and
will continue to have on the water availability
of the country is already having serious
implications for the health of the people.
Despite the challenges the country has faced
in terms of war, it was an extremely heartening
sign that the country did submit an NDC to the
UNFCCC secretariat in 2015. It has also
developed policies in the past such as the
National Environment Strategy, Afghanistan
National Renewable Energy Policy, National
Environmental Action plan and many others.

However, it appears that the climate change is
low on the government's list of priorities- with the
rebuilding of infrastructure that has been ravaged
by war being given priority.
And the country is still recovering. Afghanistan
PRODUCTION
still awaits an official census, but has released a
statement on an estimation of the population.
According to a statement by the Census Statistics
Organization the population was 29.2 million
people as of 2016, which includes 1.5 million that
are classified as Nomads, not belonging to any
province in particular.This does not include the
estimated 3 million refugees from Afghanistan
that settled in Pakistan and Iran after the war-
although repatriation has been taking place in
the past few years.
Hopefully in time for the next census, these
people will also be included in the population
estimate. It is also interesting to note that in
Afghanistan, the calendar year used is that of the
Hijri- the Islamic Calendar.
And because there has been no formal census in
the country since the 1970s, there is also little
data available about the exact numbers of the
vast ethnic groups that reside here. The four
major ethic groups are Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara and
Uzbek, at 42, 27, 9 and 9 percent respectively.
Farshad Usyan, AFP
There are also Aimaks (a nomadic group that
speaks persian) making up arond 4% of the
population, Turkmen at 3 percent, and Baloch at 2
percent. One of the most widely known ethnic
groups is a pashtun nomadic group known as the
Kuchis- who number around 1.5 million.
These people are not a part of any province, but
move throughout the country from season to
season. In general, pashtuns are the major ethnic
group in the south and the east, and the Tajiks in
the northeast. In north central Afghanistan the
dominant ethnic groups are Hazaras, Tajiks and
Uzbeks. It is also likely that despite the population
being divided neatly into ethnic lines, that it is not
as black and white. Reports suggest that most
Afghans are bi lingual. There are also many
dialects within the languages spoken in
Afghanistan, most of which are almost mutually
unintelligible.
Reports suggest that there are more than 30
languages spoken in Afghanistan, with Dari and
Pashto being the official languages- although
50% of the population speaks Dari and Pashto is
spoken by 35 percent. Turkic languages such as
Turkmen and Uzbek are spoken by 100 percent of
the population. It is important to note that for
most, Dari is an important second language- not a
first.
 MEDIA IN AFGHANISTAN
One of the outcomes of the loosening of
the Taliban stronghold on Afghanistan
has been the improvement in public
debate and dialogue- primarily through
the increasing freedom of its media.
While there have been definite
improvements in terms of the
mushrooming and growth of media
outlets, there are still concerns about
how free the media really is, with attacks
as recent as 2016 by the Taliban on
journalists who produced materials that
were deemed anti Islamic. Freedom
House reported that in 2015 there were a
reported 95 cases of violence against
journalists, although this was down from
125 in the previous year. In many cases,
Islamic laws (or the interpretation of
them by religious groups) still dominate;
for example, photos or images of women
on TV are frequently pixelated.
That being said, there has been
tremendous growth in almost all forms
of media in Afghanistan. Most of the
media companies are owned privately,
and not by the Government.
Print media is not as popular in
Afghanistan as it is in many of the
neighbouring countries- but this is
frequently correlated to the low literacy
rate, around 36%, which means that
people are unable to access the
newspapers.
The number of print outlets in 2015 was
put at 325. While there is little data
available to discern the languages of
each of these publications, reports
suggest that most reporting takes place
in pashto, dari and english (in the urban
areas).
There have also been documented
concerns that most publishing in
Afghanistan is pushed by donors, who
may have distorted the Afghan Media
Market by incentivising publications
that may not have had a natural
demand. For example, in 2012 the
highest circulated newsletter was by
ISAF, with 500,000 copies. Internews
also confirmed that most of the Afghan
media boom between 2002 and 2004
was down to donor involvement- but
also that advertising and commercials
significantly contributed to this.
With low literacy rates, (although these
are on the rise) it is not surprising that
non print media is more popular in
Afghanistan. While Radio was the most
relied on news format in Afghanistan,
reports now suggest it is being replaced
by TV, as more and more people are
able to buy the equipment as as the
number of service providers increases.
By 2014, there were a reported 161 radio
channels and 83 national and local TV
channels. A study by the Asia
Foundation in 2012 also suggested that
43% of afghans say that radio is their
main source of information- but the use
of TV as a primary source of news and
information increased to 38% in 2012
from 28% in the previous year.
Internet penetration in Afghanistan is
also steadily on the rise- Freedom House
in 2014 put the number of Afghans who
accessed the internet (primarily through
mobile phones) at 8%- while other
reports suggest that at least 27% of
Afghans had at least patchy access to
the internet.
 Photo: Helmandblogspot.com

.The increase in use of the internet in

Afghanistan, as its media frees up, is likely
to improve the flow of information and
news within communities. According to a
survey, 14%of Afghans rely on friends and
family as their main source of information
and news.The internet could possibly
make this information sharing even easier
.
While there is some information available
about the total numbers of radio, TV, print
media and internet statistics in
Afghanistan, there is little or no
breakdown of the languages media
communications take place in
Afghanistan. Most of the reports reviewed
suggest that reporting takes place in
pashto, dari or english. The RTA, the
national broadcaster, reportedly provides a
balanced content offering, with a
language breakdown of 40% dari, 40%
pashto and 20% minority languages in its
media.

Climate Reporting in Afghanistan
One of the main challenges in reporting an
issue like climate change, that is both local and
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC
global, is making sure that the message
reaches both those directly impacted and then
those making the decisions at the national or
global level.
In Afghanistan, from a cursory look at the news
reporting, it appears that climate change is not
yet percieved by media companies as a topic
that credits importance in reporting- with
politics and the myriad of security and
development issues taking top priority. This
probably mirrors what is going on at the policy
level in Afghanistan too- the government does
acknowledge climate change and its impacts
on Afghanistan, but also appears to see it as
separate from development, an agenda that it
is resolutely following.
And the political instability of climate
vulnerable Afghanistan has also meant there is
little demographic data available. This has led
to a lack of exact numbers of ethnic groups
and linguistic groups- and also a lack of
understanding of what kind of media caters to
them.
Shah Marai, AFP, March 1, 2015, Afganistan avalanche
And most importantly, what are the formats
and in what language that are the most
accessible. Reports do suggest, logically, that
due to low literacy rates, there is low
newspaper readership, and increasing
popularity of TV, which is surpassing radio
even.
Perhaps one of the reasons TV and radio are
popular is because they are accessible in
languages other than the two official
languages of pashto and dari. All languages
other than these are termed in most papers
as minority languages- even though Uzbek
and Turkmen are spoken by around 9% of
the population each. It is also worthy to note
that Dari is not a first language for most
Afghans, but is usually their second language.
This makes it questionable then why the RTA
broadcasts 40% of its content in Dari, and
why not more than 20% in the other
minority languages.
And arguably, as most Afghans still live in
rural areas- only 6 million of its almost 30
million strong population live in urban areas,
the accessibility to news relating to climate
change is even more important.
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC

Farshad Usyan AFP/Getty Images 2013

Rural Afghans depend almost entirely on natural resources for their livelihoods in some form or
another, especially as its economy recovers from war. Decreasing rainfall and increasing
temperatures will directly impact these people- and in the face of already low reportng on climate
change, it is questionable whether the reporting in local languages on climate change is even
happening, or reaching these vulnerable communities.

BHUTAN
Bhutan translates to Land of the Thunder
Dragon- and while this may seem like quite a
warrior like name for a country that is
predominantly Buddhist and usually
synonymous with peace, the name comes
from the fierce storms that come in from the
Himalayas. Bhutan, as well as its scenic
P famous
beauty, is also R O Dfor U some
C T IofOitsNrather
quaint characteristics- one of them being the
lack of traffic lights in its capital city, Thimpu.
The country is also one of the only ones in the
world whose constitution obligates
environmental conservation- it particularly
states that at least 60% of the country should
be under forest cover at all times.
In part due to the constitution, but also due to
the indigenous culture that considers the
environment and biodiversity sacred, Bhutan
is an unparalleled carbon sink due to its forest
cover.
What this means is that Bhutan captures or
sequesters more carbon than it produces,
and according to estimates by the Energy
and Climate Intelligence unit, its forests
absorb more than three times the carbon it
produces.The sequestration capacity of its
forests is 6.3 million tons of CO2 while its
emissions in 2000 were 1.2 million tons.
Curt Carnemark, World Bank, August 27, 2013, Bhutan
Forest cover was last mapped in 2010 to be
at more than 70% of the total area. Emissions
in 2012 were measured to be around 2.2
million tons of CO2 - which means
absorption still exceeds production of CO2.
Good news for its carbon heavy neighbours,
India and China!
Climate Change in Bhutan
In many ways, Bhutan is vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change, and is still
working towards social and economic
development, yet sets an example in
sequestering carbon and investing in
conservation projects.
In fact, the NDC of Bhutan, submitted to the
UNFCCC secretariat explicitly set out its
commitment to save the planet:
The Kingdom of Bhutan made the
commitment to remain carbon neutral in
2009 despite our status as a small,
mountainous developing country with many
other pressing social and economic
development needs and priorities.

It is for this reason that in many ways, Bhutan
is quoted as a role model in attempting to
take development and growth hand in hand
with carbon neutrality; something that its
neighbours in South Asia see to be at odds
with each other.PRODUCTION
Bhutans vulnerability is mostly due to the fact
that the small, landlocked country is located
entirely within the Himalayan mountain
range.While there is little data available pre-
1994 on climate records in Bhutan, the retreat
of glaciers in the Himalayas due to higher
temperatures, increased runoff and less
precipitation have led to increased risk of
Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF). In fact,
the frequency of GLOFs has increased from
0.4 events per year in the 1950s to 0.5 events
per year in the 1990s (!PCC 2007). While
GLOFs are not new to Bhutan, they are likely
to become even higher due to climate
change. Additionally the likelihood of glaciers
disappearing by the year 2035 or sooner is
high.
Bhutan National Geographic
In fact, reports put the melting of debris
covered glaciers at 30-40m per year and 8 to
10 meters per year for debris free glaciers.
The glaciers are a source of water in Bhutan-
and as a result , climate change will threaten
hydropower for clean energy and other socio
economic activities.
While there is a projected moderate increase
in mean total annual rainfall for the period
2040 to 2069 in Bhutan, the monsoon will
get wetter and the winter warmer and drier,
leading to further water shortages. The
retreat of the glaciers will also have impacts
on the loss of habitats for vulnerable species
living in the areas.
While Bhutan is being lauded for its actions
to mitigate climate change despite also
having to adapt considerably, there are
indications that Bhutan, with its investments
in electricity for its people and other
investments such as transport, might need to
implement some additional policies to keep
its status as a role model in the climate arena.
Languages of Bhutan
The fact that Bhutan is mostly mountainous
terrain possibly explains why it is so sparsely
populated. The last census was in 2005 and
put the population at 634,982 people - and
estimates in to date put the population at
787,065 people. Up until the mid 1970s,
Bhutan was cut off from the rest of the world,
as it was feared that integration into foreign
cultures would erode traditional values. In
fact, the first foreign visitors were let in to
Bhutan in 1974.
Bhutan is a constitutional monarchy with a
parliamentary form of Government, and its
first general elections for the national
assembly were held in 2008. This was a
landmark step for a country that was
previously a complete monarchy, and one
that did not encourage dissent or democracy.
Bhutan is divided into 20 dzonkhags (districts)
which are administered by a body called the
Dzongkhak Tshkdu.
Butan is also one of the only countries in the
world that prefers to measure its
development in Gross National Happiness.
PRODUCTION
The King, in a recent statement highlighted
his belief that happiness is a fundamental
objective of the government:Today GNH has
come to mean so many things to so many
people, but to me it signifies simply
development with values. Thus for my nation
today GNH is the bridge between the
fundamental values of kindness, equality and
humanity and the necessary pursuit of
economic growth. GNH acts as our National
Conscience guiding us towards making wise
decisions for a better future.
Gross National Happiness is measured in
Bhutan in four domains, and it is interesting
to note that one of these domains is
Environmental Conservation, while another is
Sustainable socio-economic development.
Bhutan clearly places a high premium on
culture, tradition and conservation, which is
reflected in almost all its policies and
constitution.
More than half of Bhutans population is
employed in the agriculture sector: 56.3%
according to the NDC. Its highest emissions
are also from this sector. Industries and
transport are also on the rise, and employing
progressively more people.
Andrew Evans National Geographic
 Language Map of Bhutan, Van Driem 1993

Bhutan is home to around two dozen languages- including Nepali, as much of the population
identifies as ethnically Nepali, despite Bhutan lacking a border with the country. The language
used in the Government and in education is Dzongkha with approximately 160,000 speakers as of
2006.

The chocangaca language is a sister language to Dzongkha and is spoken in the Kurichu valley of
P R O20,000
Bhutan by around D U Cpeople.
T I OSome
N of the pastoral languages include Lakha (8000 speakers),
Brokkat languages (300 speakers), Brokpa (5000 speakers). Sikkiese and Dzonkha are legible to
each other, as is the Laya dialect, which is closely related to Dzongkha, and spoken near the
northwestern border with Tibet by around 1100 Layaps.

Nepali is spoken primarily in the south by the approximately 265000 resident Lhotshampa
community. The Lepcha and Lhokpu languages have 2000 and 2500 speakers respectively. The
Tshangla language has approximately 138000 speakers and is the mother tongue of the
Sharchops. Dzongkha however is the most widely spoken, and english is increasingly being used
in urban areas such as Thimpu.

MEDIA IN BHUTAN
The media landscape in Bhutan is very very
new - it was the last country in the world
to introduce Television in 1999. For years,
the country cut itself off from the outside
world, fearing that the outside influences
would undermine culture and monarchy.
And while the media is still considerable
restricted, and criticism of the King is
punishable by law, it has seen
considerable growth in the past few years.
The Bhutan Broadcasting Service was
established in 1973 as a radio service, and
started television broadcasts in 1999. The
first Bhutanese newspaper, called Kuensel
launched in 1967. While both media were
linked strongly to the government, they
were made independent after a royal
decree in 1992.
Today there are 12 newspapers, including
Kuensel, Bhutan Times, Bhutan Observer,
Bhutan Today, Business Bhutan, The
Journalist, The Bhutanese, Druk Neytshuel,
Druk Yoedzer, Bhutan Youth, Gyalchi
Sarshog, Druk Melong. There are 5 radio
stations including BBS Rahio, Kuzo FM,
Radio Valley, Centennial Radio and Radio
waves.
Despite the fact that TV ownership in
Bhutan reached more than half the
population, more than 55%, considering
that TV was only introduced in 1999, there
are still only 2 TV channels as of 2012.
However, by 2013 there were 58 cable
operators and of the 74.846 TV sets owned
by families in Bhutan, 54.120 subscribed to
cable TV.
Social media is also penetrating the
market, despite the fact that internet was
also only introduced after 1999
James Morgan, Bhutan
There are only 4 internet service providers
in Bhutan, but internet subscribers grew
from 2.117 in 2003 to 133.289 in 2013. Most
of these appear to be accessing the
internet from mobile phones, as computer
ownership remained low.
Language and accessibility to media go
hand in hand. In fact, a study by the
Bhutan Media Foundation in 2014 found
that all English publications are translated
to Dzongkha and vice versa. Lhotsamkha
and Sharchopkha are also commonly used
languages in the media.
In terms of newspaper readership, 28.1%
read newspapers in English and 4.3% read
in Dzongkha. 19.3% read news websites
online in English and 0.4% read in
Dzongkha.
11.2% of people interviewed for the study
listened to Bhutanese in Sharchopkha and
5.2% listened in Lhotsamkha.
Based on the BIMIS 2013 survey, there was
a decrease in respondents who watched
Bhutanese TV in Dzongkha language
(46.4%) and a decrease in those who
listened to radio programmes in
Dzongkha (24.9%). Only 4.3% read
Dzongkha newspapers.

Climate Reporting in Bhutan
The emerging landscape of Bhutan can be
approached in two ways: either to look at the
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC
media landscape as one that lacks the reach
and skill to produce engaging content on
climate change, or as a market that still has the
potential to be shaped into a proactive,
influential media that engages citizens on
meaningful topics.
But the way we approach climate reporting in
the media will also be defined by the way in
which the Bhutanese government controls the
media - and so far, there are indications that
the media is still strictly regulated and mostly
government run. Criticism of the King is
punishable by law, and while the most recent
monarch has been particularly active in
opening up the media, there is still a lot to be
done. There are also instances where the
majority of the blame for the rising crime rates
and cultural problems on access to TV - in fact
correlates the two.
In terms of Climate Change, the approach
Bhutan appears to have is that they are very
committed and dedicated to conservation and
the environment, it figures largely in their
constitution and their measurements of Gross
National Happiness
Dowchu Drukpa, DGM, bhutan
However, the growing Bhutanese economy,
and its increasing emissions from agriculture
mean that maybe not in the near future, but
possibly in the late future, Bhutan may also
lose its boasting rights as the role model
country for carbon capture. However, Bhutan
is undeniably a current zero emitter and it
deserves to promote this fact. But is also
important to note that the country is
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change,
and adaptation to climate change is
paramount, especially for communities living
in fragile areas.The media at the moment
appears to focus mostly on Bhutans ability to
sequester carbon, rather than focus on how
disasters are linked to climate change and
what can be done about it.
In terms of language, there are strong
indications that Bhutan, like the rest of the
world and particularly South Asia, is also
moving towards english as a dominant
language in reporting. Youth appear to be
inclined towards using a mix of Dzongkha
and English in their communications and
speech. An analysis of the media also shows
that in terms of TV viewership and radio,
Bhutanese language is more listened to
particularly in the rural areas.
 James Morgan

In terms of social media and newspapers,

English is more widely accessed. The possible
reasons for this can be the link between
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC
literacy and reach. Education in urban Bhutan
is mostly in English meaning people are
comfortable reading and writing in it.
Additionally, there are reports that newspapers
take at least 3 to 4 days to reach the rural areas,
which would possibly lead people to rely more
on TV as it is instant information that is still
new and fresh while they get it.

Radio also sees a high percentage of people

tuning in and listening in Dzongkha,
particularly in the rural areas. Social media is
mostly accessed in English.

In other countries in South Asia that were

analysed as a part of this study, the common
finding is that English reporting is usually done
to either draw international attention to a local
issue, or with a target audience of governments
and decision makers in mind. Reporting in
local languages is usually done for advocacy
among communities about climate impacts
and issues on smaller scales. Taking into
account the language dynamics of Bhutans
media, it might be correct to say that reporting
in both languages be encouraged.

SRI LANKA
Known as the teardrop of India due to its
unique shape- and also occasionally by its
other name, pearl of the Indian Ocean, Sri
Lanka boasts one of the highest literacy rates
throughout South Asia. Sri Lanka, previously
known as Ceylon while colonised by the
British, has also made significant
contributionsPR to the
O Dworlds
U C cuisine-
T I O Ncinnamon
originated here, and Sri Lanka is one of the
largest tea exporters in the world.
Vulnerability to Climate Change
And while industrialisation has led to
telecommunications, textiles, food processing
taking over agriculture as some of the main
contributors to the Sri Lankan economy, there
is still much dependence on natural resources
and the country is still very vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change. As well as being
an island country, its geographic location has
served many benefits such as its harbours that
have brought much economic benefit, it has
also added to the countrys vulnerability.
Sri Lanka is susceptible to Sea level rise, and it
is estimated that by 2050, it will lose at least
1.2% of its GDP annually due to the impacts of
climate change
Photo: Suranga Weeratunga
.Some climate models also suggest that
temperature will increase consistently, from 1
to 1.1 degrees celsius in 2010, 1.3 degrees to 1.8
degrees celsius in 2050 and 2.3 degrees to 3.6
degrees celsius by 2080. There is also a
likelihood that rain will increase over these
three time periods- by 3.6% -11% by 2030,
15.8%-25% in 2050 and 31.3% to 39.6% in
2080.For alot of Sri Lanka's rural population,
that rely on agriculture, livestock production
and inland fisheries, this could be
catastrophic.
More than 26,100 square kilometres of Sri
Lanka's land is under agriculture- and almost
of all of it is rainfall fed. It is also vulnerable to
sea level rise, and the high levels of storms as
well as changing sea temperatures can have
adverse impacts on the livelihoods and the
survival of its fishermen.
Sri Lankas coastal region covers about 23% of
the islands land area (Coast Conservation
Department 2006) and accommodates about
25% of the population, in addition to a heavy
concentration of urban areas, tourism
infrastructure, and industries that are
vulnerable to impacts of sea level rise.

Despite political instability in the country, Sri
Lanka hasP R Oactively
been DUC T I O and
pursuing N Cyclone Roanu in 2016, and is currently at risk
developing policies for climate change since
2009- including the National Climate Change
Policy, as well as National Adaptation Plan
and a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation
Action (NAMA). In its submission to the
UNFCCC in its NDC, Sri lankan government
states that the total GHG emissions less than
0.1% of total global emissions, and per capita
emissions are 0.6 tCO2e.It intends to reduce
its emissions by 7% unconditionally (4% from
the energy sector and 3% from others) and
conditionally 23% by 2030.
While Sri Lanka is well known for relying on
sustainable sources such as biomass, and
hydro power to serve its energy needs, it also
has high petroleum imports, and it is likely
that if things were to continue as they are, Sri
Lankas emissions could rise considerably in
the coming decades.
But, Sri Lanka continues to be a low emitter
and its focus remains on adaptation rather
than mitigation.
Bioversity International, S Landersz, Srilanka, october 7, 2012
And rightfully so. Sri Lanka was devastated by
of drought- both of which are being assessed
by experts as being linked to climate change.
Climate linked disasters have wreaked havoc
in Sri Lanka in the past- possibly because
much of its densely populated urban centres
are located near its coast. The last census of
Sri Lanka in 2011 put the population at
16,929,689 people- 2,251,274 of whom lived in
Colombo, the capital. According to UN
estimates, the population is in the region of
20,811,000 as of 2016. With agriculture losing
its status as one of the main contributors to
the GDP of the country, the country is not
only growing in population, but is also rapidly
urbanizing, as its people move away from
traditional jobs and seek to participate in the
growing service industry.
Languages and population

The small Island country- roughly the size of

The Sri Lankan Tamils and the Indian Tamils
Ireland, is home to many ethnicities, cultures
are distinct from each other- with the Indian
and religions. The major ethnic group is
Tamils being brought into Sri Lanka by the
Sinhalese - who speak the Sinhala language.
British in the 19th century to work on the tea
The number of Sinhala speakers in 2011 was
and rubber plantations. They remain
put at 82% of the population- 13,876,245
concentrated in the tea country of south
persons. These Sinhala speakers have a
central Sri Lanka, while the Sri Lanka Tamils
number of different dialects, such as the
live predominantly in the north and east of
Rodiya language, Veddah and others. The
the island. The languages have minor
script is considered to be almost the same
differences from each other, but are mutually
across dialect though.
legible.
Sinhala and Tamil are the two languages that
Sri Lankan Moors make up 7.9% of the
are awarded official status in Sri Lanka- which
population. The Moors are descended from
means these are the languages that are
Arab traders that settled in Sri Lanka- and
commonly used in government, education
married locally. Many of the Moors speak
etc. English is noted by the constitution to be
Tamil, and a study by the Government in 2012
a link language- which the dictionary defines
showed that most of the Moors could speak
as a language that is used for communication
tamil, but less than half could speak Sinhala.
when there is no other common language
The other major ethnic groups include
available. While that may be true, there is also
Burgher and Malay, at 0.2 and 0.3 % of the
the possibility that the influence of the British
population respectively. A remnant of the
in the region and the influx of tourists may
Portuguese invasion of Sri Lanka, many of the
also have something to do with the popularity
Burgher community speak Sri Lankan Indo
of English.
Portuguese, while the Malays speak a Creole
PRO D Ugroup
C T isI O N language that mixes Sinhala, Tamil and
The second major ethnic Tamil,
Malay.The remaining population speaks
which is officially divided into Sri Lanka Tamil
Vedda, a Creole language that is closely
and Indian Tamil, and make up 4.3 and 5.1% of
based on Sinhala.
the population respectively.

S landersz, Oct 5, bioversity international 2012 srilanka

 Photo: Jack Ager

There are also Arab influences amongst the muslim communities in Sri Lanka, who use Arabic for
religious purposes. There are also a considerable number of Maldivians settled in Sri Lanka- which
P R Ois D
means that Dhivehi Uspoken
also CTIO by N
some communities.

Many of Sri Lankas languages are being replaced by Sinhala, the official language, or by Tamil in other
cases. While there are reports that the Government is discouraging the use of English, there is a risk
that when an official language is designated, the preservation of traditional, and in the case of Sri
Lanka extremely unique languages such as Indo Portuguese being lost.

MEDIA IN SRI LANKA
The media in Sri Lanka is frequently
criticised for being extremely divided
along language and ethnic lines- although
the election of the president Maithripala
Sirisena led to an improvement in the
media freedom, due to his less restrictive
media policies. This also included the
reopening of cases of violence and crime
against journalists, which were frequently
dismissed or ignored. The government also
introduced changes in the constitution
such as the 19th Amendment that
guarantees citizens access to information
(which previously did not exist in Sri
Lanka's legislation- in fact public officials
were directed to not divulge information
to the public.
However, despite these changes, there still
remains much government influence on
media - with the largest newspaper chain
and broadcast mediums owned by the
government of the country.
At the height of the civil war in Sri Lanka, it
was noted to be one of the most
dangerous places in the world for
journalists. In fact, at one point the BBC in
Sri Lanka halted its broadcasts in Sinhala
and Tamil, for fear of inciting more
violence.
There were numerous cases of violence
against journalists and even after the end
of the civil war, murders, threats and
censorships continue. According to a 2013
report by Amnesty International,
journalists in Sri Lanka were victims of
government sanctioned abuse.
The language press and its dynamics are
well recorded in Sri Lankan research.
Getty Images
Due to much of its conflict also being
attributed to the language dynamics
between the Tamils and the Sinhalese,
and related conflict, it is only natural that
the media would be implicated at some
point in the conflict. While the number of
newspapers in Sri Lanka in 2009 was put
at 12, more recent figures suggest that
there are around 26 newspapers in Sri
Lanka- of which less than half are in
english and the rest in Tamil and Sinhala.
As of 2002, most newspapers in Sri Lanka
were published by 3 groups- The
Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited
(ANCL), Upali Newspapers Limited and
Wijeya Newspapers limited.
Reports suggest that the Sinhala and
Tamil publications have a wider circulation
and readership as compared to English
language dailies, which are mostly read
either online or mostly in the urban areas
of Sri Lanka.
Radio in Sri Lanka has a rich heritage too,
with its earliest broadcasts being recorded
in 1923 from a captured German
submarine. Subsequently, the
broadcasting began in Colombo- and to
date there are around 72 radio stations in
Sri Lanka.
While much of the radio broadcasting was
owned by government, there are now
many private stations- however, these are
still governed by certain guidelines to
ensure harmony among ethnic minorities.
The Colombo based Lakhanda, a
government owned station, provides 24
hour service in Sinhala.
 IShara S. Kodikara AFP/Getty Images

Like radio, TV was also under a

government monopoly until 1992. While
the TV industry has blossomed in Sri
Lanka, with many private TV stations
opening up, estimated at 21 in
2002.However, there have still been
instances of TV censorship, with the
government placing restrictions on airing
news concerning security matters.

There appears to be a mix of Sinhalese,

Tamil and English broadcasting- but the
local languages are more popular
particularly in rural Sri Lanka.

An estimated 30% of Sri Lankans were

measured to be online by 2015. Access to
mobile internet connections has been
credited as one of the reasons for this. In
fact, there were 113 mobile phones for
every 100 residents in Sri Lanka in 2015.
After TV, many Sri Lankans stated that
facebook and other social media were
their prime sources of news.

Climate Reporting in Sri Lanka
While the literature available on Sri Lanka
states across the board that the media is
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC
divided amongst ethnic and linguistic lines, it
was difficult to find out the exact ways in
which this is so, and the number of
newspapers and broadcast media and their
languages. However, the strong links between
the civil war and ethnicity may explain this. For
many decades to the build up of the civil war
of Sri Lanka, there was much debate and much
back and forth on the designation of
Sinhalese/English/Tamil as the official
language- with many ethnic groups taking very
strong stances on what the language should
be.
And while our research indicates that there is a
strong ethnic majority of Sinhalese speakers,
there is also cases of certan ethnic groups such
as the Moors, who are considered to be
Sinhalese speakers, but who are actually much
more fluent in Tamil than in Sinhala.
While language remains a sensitive subject for
Sri Lanka, one thing is for certain- the country is
hit hard and fast by the impacts of climate
change. Particularly those living on the coast
line, and even those living inland, who are
impacted by drought.
S. Landersz, Oct 5, 2012, Bioversity International, srilanka
The country, which is a low emitter, has a
history of legislations and plans relating to
climate change adaptation and even
mitigation. However, its media continues to be
controlled to a large extent by the government-
and climate change related messaging reflects
government agenda. The reports that were
immediately available regarding the drought
and other information had very little content on
what the Government could have done to
prevent these disasters- and focus more on
requesting aid for dealing with the problem.
The other pressing issue is the lack of
broadcasting in minority languages. Sinhala
and Tamil are the official languages of Sri
Lanka- while English is the link language.
Clearly, there was much data available on many
publications,
TV stations and Radio stations that produce
content in these languages- but what about
the endangered Veddah language, or the
Creole languages including Indo-portuguese
and Malay? Those speaking these languages are
frequently located in the rural or semi urban
parts of the country- and there is a very real risk
of them either being isolated from media
reporting on climate change.
 Photo: Eranga Jayawardana, AP

However, there is also evidence that many of the media companies in Sri Lanka are now multi
lingual, and provide content in many languages- but again, these are usually Tamil, Sinhalese and
English. If these smaller minorities produce content for themselves, there is little data available on
the kinds of media available- and it is likely that they do not have the capacity to write about climate
change.

MALDIVES
The Maldives, some researchers claim,
translates to garland of Islands- which is not
surprising, given that the island country is
made up of 26 atolls that are arranged in a
beautiful rounded shape.The Maldives was
the first country in the world to have an
entirely under water cabinet meeting in 2009.
This was symbolic, to register the urgency of
the rising sea level and the impact it has for
PRODUCTION
the Maldives- the lowest lying country in the
world.
Vulnerability and Tourism
A popular tourist destination for its scenic
beaches and plenty of sunshine, the Maldives
has already lost a number of Islands due to
sea level rise- and is frequently cited as one of
the countries at the forefront of climate
change, and feeling impacts today.
Maldives economy is mostly dependent on
the tourism sector- one that is increasingly
threatened by climate change.
A sea level rise of 1 meter would bring under
water 196 square kilometers of the land-
making up 66% of the total area of the
Maldives. There would also be an additional
temporarily inundated area of 69 square
kilometers due to storm surge.
Richard Vevers, May 6, 2016, Maldives, XL Catlin Seaview Survey
Coastal erosion and the inundation of
beaches will also damage the tourist
infrastructure, as well as the impacts on
marine dive sites due to higher temperature.
The temperature increases have also led to
the degradation and bleaching of coral reefs.
And it is not only the tourism industry that is
at stake. Regional climate model projections
indicate that the temperature could increase
by anywhere between 0.8 degrees to 1.09
degrees celsius by 2030 and between 1.3
degrees and 1.6 degrees celsius by 2050.
There are strong indications that there will
also be an increase in extreme rainfall events.
The fishing industry is another one of the
strongholds of the Maldivian economy that is
impacted by climate change- marine
biodiversity is depleting and unbalanced due
to changing temperatures, ocean
acidification and to some extent, poor fishing
practices. As recent as 2016, the Maldives
faced unusually high temperatures in the sea
surface, causing much damage to its coral
reefs.
The agriculture of the Maldives is dependent
on climatic conditions and therefore,
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

This is also exacerbated by the limited
cultivable land (27 km2), low elevation (80%
of total land
PR area
OisDless
UCthan
T I1 meter
O N above
mean sea level) poor soil quality and scarce
water resources. In fact, the agriculture
depends on groundwater, which is
increasingly at risk from saltwater intrusion
and flooding due to rising sea level and
extreme weather events. The water is usually
extracted using wells and pumps.
The Maldives has also faced a number of
extreme weather events, linked to climate
change. In December 2004, the Asian
Tsunami killed 82 people, displaced 12000
and caused extensive damage to industries.
$375 million in overall damages were
reported, of which $100 million were
damages to resorts.
In 2007, 68 Islands across 16 atolls of the
Maldives were struck by a series of storm
surges, causing inundation of up to 600
meters from the coastline, according to
UNOCHAs disaster reports.
Peter Essick, Foundation of Deep Ecology
Politically, the leadership of the country has
shifted its focus from the climate threat to
promoting mass tourism and 'development'.
As well as the countrys water demand being
met from imports, the Maldives high level of
fuel imports is growing and the main source
of its emissions, according to its INDC.
Maldives 2011 energy balance shows that
there was approximately 313 kilo tonnes of oil
equivalent of energy consumed in the
Maldives of which 80% was imported. Energy
consumption was around 1.04 million tonnes
of CO2 emissions in 2011 (0.003% of global
emissions).
While this is not a huge amount in absolute
terms, considering the growth rate of fossil
fuel usage, it is estimated that 3.3 million
tonnes CO2 equivalent will be produced by
2030. Maldives intends to take actions and
undertakings to reduce 10% of its emissions
by 2030- and could push it to 24% with
support.
 Photo: Nishan/UNFPA Maldives

People and Language

Disaster events cause extensive damages in It is probable that the influx of Somali
the Maldives, not only because of its immigrants, and the arrival of Islam in the Islands
geographical location and related sensitivity, in the 12th century, may have brought an arab
but also because of its population density.This influence into language and culture. There are
can also explain the increasing demands for also a number of Bangladeshi immigrants in the
fuel. In 2014, the population was recorded at Maldives, who have also assimilated to local
341,256 people, P that
R Oare
Dspread
U C Tover I O197
N languages, but still speak in Bengali.
inhabited islands (of a total of 1190).The capital,
Male, is home to 120,000 people but covers an
area of only one square mile- making it one of
the worlds most densely populated places.

The de-facto language is English- used in

education and official documents, and
business. The local language, Dhivehi, which
has links to Sinhalese, is spoken by
approximately 331000 people. English has
taken over as the language for education, and
is spoken widely, especially by the educated
elite. While English is seen as a status symbol
of sorts, it is still more or less a secondary
language.

Dhivehi, which has a number of dialects

including Mal, Huvadu, Fuvah Mulaku, Addu,
Maliku Bas, is still the native language of the
inhabitants of the Maldives.

MEDIA IN MALDIVES
The media landscape of the Maldives is
characterized by tight control by the
government. In fact, before the
introduction of private broadcasters,
media in the Maldives has been
restricted to state owned television and
radio channels, and a handful of private
newspapers.
Print media, which was previously
difficult to register, had its rules for
registration relaxed in 2005. In 2007,
following the Broadcast Licensing
Contract, private broadcasting was
opened. In July 2008, the countrys first
private channel was launched- DhiTv.
Despite many legal reforms, such as
changing defamation from a criminal
offence to a civil one, the media of the
Maldives is viewed by many analysts as
still having significant restraints from the
government. For example, even an
assessment report by the Ministry of
Information and Arts in 2007 in its first
chapter notes how almost every person
able to write became a journalist, a
writer, or a columnist, and instances of
irresponsible journalism reached
alarming proportions. This is indicative
of the way in which the government
continues to view the media in the
Maldives- with a wary and cynical eye.In
analysis of the Freedom of the Press of
the Maldives, the country was ranked as
still having challenging media
conditions as of 2014.
The Maldives Broadcasting Commission
(MBC) regulates the broadcast media-
and in 2013 it threatened to revoke the
licenses that broadcast information
harmful to national security.
Barbara Weibel, Nepal
There are also interventions by the
Communications Authority of the
Maldives (CAM), blocking websites that
are deemed anti-Islamic or
pronographic by the Ministry of Islamic
affairs.
In 2016, the countrys oldest newspaper,
Haveeru, closed down. In the same year,
the Maldives was described as still very
hostile for Independent and opposition
media by Reporters without Borders.
There are also many instances of threats
to journalists, that have created a
significant atmosphere of fear in the
media landscape of the country.
While there was not much data available
on the exact number of newspapers in
the country, there are an estimated 26
newspapers in the Maldives. While there
is no data available on the languages
that these are published in, reports
suggest that most of the reporting is in
English, followed by Dhivehi.There were
10 Radio/FM stations as of 2014, and 20
TV stations in the same year. The
internet, despite many hurdles in the
form of censorship, has significantly
increased usership, with at least 270,000
users by 2016. The geography of the
Maldives makes communication and
transport challenging, but despite this,
internet usage has grown significantly.
 Artis Rams Nepal

Climate Reporting in the Maldives

In terms of climate change, there is a real risk
that there is little bottom up information
There is limited information available regarding
flowing from the inhabitants of remote
the language of reporting in the Maldives- but
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC
islands in the Maldives, who are the ones
reports suggest that most reporting is done in
really impacted by climate change, and
English or Dhivehi. Given that the Maldives
neither is there top down information flowing
education is mostly in English, and the literacy
to them, regarding what is being done.
rate is one of the highest in South Asia at 96.3%
in 2007 to 2008, this is not surprising.
At the national level, there is also a risk that
reporting on climate change will continue to
The real issue for the Maldives appears to be
focus on the vulnerability of the Maldives to
more with access to media, rather than to the
climate change, and ignore potentially
comprehension of the language of reporting
harmful decisions being made by the
and broadcasting. The report by the UNDP
Government.
suggests that the national broadcaster is
available through terrestrial transmission,
As an example, the president of the Maldives
which reaches most Atolls and most citizens.
has recently announced that there will be a
For TV stations, it would appear that cable is
shift in focus away from solar power and
accessible on all Atolls, but not necessarily on
carbon neutrality, towards promoting tourism
all the islands that are inhabited by humans. It
in the country. Related to this, Saudi Arabia is
was suggested that cable is too expensive for
seeking to secure oil trade routes to east Asia
most living on these islands. Newspapers do
through multi billion dollar investments in a
not distribute outside of Male and in some
Maldives atoll. According to Climate Home,
cases, a few nearby Islands.
there were protests that were marred by
heavy police contingents in the atoll of
This is coupled with a stringently controlled
Biledhdhoo, protesting the Saudi
media landscape, with much Government
investment.
control and interference.
 BBC Maldives/Getty Images

Even more worryingly, the website reported that two of the journalists from the atoll had been
detained overnight- to prevent causing any embarrassment infront of the visiting foreign leader.
Men reading newspapers at a stand in Peshawar. Source: BBC
There has also been little coverage in the local press regarding this issue- and it is mostly being given
a positive spin by the Government, which is reflected in the media.

What this indicates is that there is little scope for advocacy related journalism in the Maldives, as the
government tightly controls the setting of the media agenda in the country- through a number of
legislations, acts, bills and commissions, meant to facilitate the media but which appear to be more
of a noose around its neck.
 References
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/traditional-art-of-jamdani-weaving-00879
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2017/02/09/bangladesh-bets-on-coal-to-meet-rising-energy-demand/
Bureau of Statistics, Bangladesh
http://data.un.org/CountryProfile.aspx?crName=bangladesh
Bangladesh Statistical Pocketbook, 2013
https://www.ethnologue.com/country/bd/languages
Endangered Language Alliance. "Bangladesh: Some endangered languages" (PDF). Endangered Language Alliance.
https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2016/bangladesh
Freedo House, Freedom of the Press Report, Bangladesh 2016
Press Referece, Bangladesh, 2002
CIA World Factbook, Bangladesh http://himalayanecotrek.com/travel-guide/interesting-facts-about-nepal/
State of water resources, Water Environment and Partnership in Asia
The Glaciers of the Hindu Kush-Himalayan Region, Integrated Center for International Development, 2010
Climate Change in Nepal: Domestic and Regional Perspectives, South Asia Watch On Trade, Economics And
Environment, 2014
Climate Change Vulnerability Index 2011, Global risks advisory firm Maplecroft
Minist Rajesh Chamling and Co., National Briefing Paper on policies and Situation of Media in Nepal with regards
to IPs ry of Science, Technology and Environment, Nepal
Sueyoshi and Ingrid Toba Novel Kishor Rai (2005), Diversity and Endangerment of Languages in Nepal, UNESCO
Media and Telecoms Landscape Guide, May 2011, infoasaid
Assessment of media development in Nepal, 19 December 2013, UNESCO
http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/printedition/news/2015-08-01/voice-of-the-people-279085.html
Tamang, Pratik Ngesur. 2006. Tamang sanchar samuha mathi ek dristhi. Media Adhyan journal 1, Kathmandu,
Martin Chautari, and Sarbahari 2007 Sarbahari, Krishnaraj. 2007.
Sonntag, 1995; Eagle, 1999 cited in UNESCO report, 2011
Kiran Bhandari, Dipak Bhattarai and James Deane, Accountability, nation and society: the role of media in
remaking Nepal, BBC, September 2016
Sangita Shrestha, K. B. (2014). Constructions of Climate Change on the Radio and in Nepalese Lay Focus Groups.
Environmental Communication.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-13931608
Afghanistan Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, 2015
Central Statistics Organization ( CSO ), Afghanistan Population Estimation for the year 1395 ( 2016 -17 ),
http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2013/04/30/afghan-population-set-reach-275m-year
Library of Congress- Federal REsearch Division. Country Profile: Afghanistan, August 2008
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12013942
Afghanistan, Freedom of the Press, Freedom House, 2016 https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-
press/2016/afghanistan
BBC Media Action- Afghanistan Policy Brief 2012
Afghan Media in 2014: Understanding the Audience. Prepared by Altai Consulting for Internews, Afghanistan,
February 2015.
BBC Country Media Profile, Afghanistan
Afghanistan in 2012: A Survey of the Afghan People. The Asia Foundation
Ministry of Environment, Energy and Water (MEEW). 2007. National Adaptation Program of ActionRepublic of
the Maldives. Mal
http://marinesavers.com/2016/07/coral-bleaching-updates/
Ahmed, M. and S. Suphachalasai. Assessing the costs of climate change and adaptation in South Asia.
Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, 2014
As recorded in the Maldves INDC submission to the UNFCCC in 2015
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/maldives/11276954/Maldives-facing-
disaster-over-drinking-water-shortage.html
 References
Media Monitoring: Maldives. March-April 2011, Transparency Maldives, National Democratic Institute
http://www.maldivesinfo.gov.mv/home/upload/downloads/mbook.pdf
BBC Media Profile- Maldives
Maldives Broadcasting Commission 2014
internetworldstats.com
Assessment of Media Development in the Maldives,Collation: 28 p. Author(s): Mendel, Toby Publication year:
2009 ISBN: 978-81-89218-32-4
Available at http://hdr.undp.org/en/
http://www.climatechangenews.com/2017/03/05/saudis-make-maldives-land-grab-secure-oil-routes-china/
http://www.climatecentral.org/news/maldives-climate-threat-to-mass-tourism-21217
Ahmed, M. and S. Suphachalasai. Assessing the costs of climate change and adaptation in South Asia.
Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank, 2014.
Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, Sri Lanka
http://www.colombopage.com/archive_17A/Mar22_1490124042CH.php
World Statistics Pocketbook, UN, accessed 3/30/2017
Census of Sri Lanka, 2011
Freedom of the Press in Sri Lanka, Freedom House, 2011
Ethnologue Profile Sri Lanka
BBC Media Profile, Sri Lanka
Freedom House, Freedom of the Press, Sri Lanka
Press REference.com Sri Lanka
The World Factbook CIA
The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan
Intended Nationally Determined Contribution of the Kingdom of Bhutan to the UNFCCC secretariat, September
2015
Declaration of the Kingdom of Bhutan- The Land of Gross National Happiness to Save our Planet, dated December
11 2009
NEC 2011
State of the Environment, Government of Bhutan, 2011
http://www.nsb.gov.bt/publication/publications.php?id=3 National Statistics Bureau, accessed 23/3/2017
BBC Country Profile- Bhutan
van Driem, George L. (1993). "Language Policy in Bhutan" (PDF). London: SOAS.
Lhamo T, Oyama T (2015) The Role of Mass Media in Bhutan: Accessibility, Influence and its Impacts. J Mass
Communicat Journalism 5:266. doi:10.4172/2165-7912.1000266
BBC Media Profile:Bhutan
BIMIS Survey 2013, BMF 2014