ZCZC
BSS-02
PM-ARTICLE-DIPLOMAT 2 LAST DHAKA
The prime minister opined that international cooperation on climate had
been de-prioritised by the US for several years and international climate
finance was falling far short of the $100 billion pledged at Paris.
“The G-20, accounting for nearly 80% of global emissions, lacked the
political will to finance transactional carbon markets to support low-carbon
projects in vulnerable countries. Loss and damage remained a far cry,” she
continued.
And then, she said Covid-19 hit us like a bolt from the blue, triggering
the triple perils of climate, health and nature.
A rude awakening finally forced the world to heed to my warning that the
climate crisis is indeed an emergency, she also said.
Mentioning that any recovery had to be green, nature-based and resilient,
the premier said therefore, my first act as CVF President was to declare
climate change a “planetary emergency” and call upon all to be on a ‘war
footing’ to arrest global temperature rise at 1.5oC.
The prime minister said, “By Autumn 2020, I’d seen very few NDCs
[Nationally Determined Contributions], and COP26 was postponed, so I launched
the “Midnight Survival Deadline for the Climate” initiative at the CVF
Leaders’ Summit.”
She opined that US President Joe Biden’s returning to the Paris treaty was
also inspiring.
“But those who failed to meet CVF’s midnight deadline, I urge them to
submit ambitious NDCs ahead of COP26. CVF’s most vulnerable members pledged
no less than a net-zero by 2030, including Barbados, Costa Rica and the
Maldives,” she wrote.
About Bangladesh, she said that Bangladesh, the CVF member with the
largest population, also submitted interim NDC updates with additional
pledges over and above Paris to reduce methane emissions.
For Bangladesh and the CVF, climate adaptation and financing is a prime
‘survival’ priority as we relentlessly struggle to protect our populations
from recurrent extreme climate events, she further said.
Sheikh Hasina also wrote, “Realistically, my climate survival philosophy
has been a common sense one. ‘Help thyself’ and wait for no one to rescue.
Because climate change is not going to spare us for our inactions.”
The premier said that she had long championed locally led adaptation and
resilience building at the heart of which are local actors, especially women
and youth.
Referring to cyclone Amphan, she wrote that in 2020, when the Category-5
Cyclone mercilessly hit Bangladesh and India, Bangladesh demonstrated its
capability to evacuate 2.4 million people and half a million livestock to
safety in less than five days.
That same year, two-thirds of Bangladesh went under water in flash floods
during the pandemic, she continued.
She mentioned that even though this double jeopardy cost $3.5 billion in
GDP losses, disaster preparedness of Bangladesh saved millions of lives.
She further added that Bangladesh has also learnt to self-finance its
climate projects.
The government has thus created a $450 million Bangladesh Climate Change
Trust Fund that supports nearly 800 adaptation and resilience projects in its
vulnerable coasts, the premier went on saying.
“We are spending on an average 2.5% of our GDP $5 billion each year on
climate adaptation and resilience building,” she informed.
Briefly spelling out the government measures to take preparation to face
natural calamities, she said that Bangladesh built 16.4km of sea dykes,
12,000 cyclone shelters and 200,000 hectares of coastal plantation.
The scientists invented nature-based solutions for the country’s coastal
communities, such as salinity and stress tolerant crops, rain reservoirs and
pond-sand-filters, floating agriculture technology and mobile water treatment
plants, she continued.
The prime minister said, “In Bangladesh, we are now championing climate
prosperity. By pioneering the ‘Mujib Climate Prosperity Decade 2030,’ named
after Bangladesh’s Founding Father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman during
his birth centenary, I have called CVF nations to initiate ‘climate
prosperity plans.”
“But the CVF can only do so much on its own. There is a limit to
adaptation too!” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said we have already planted 11.5 million trees under the
climate prosperity plan.
The prime minister said, “It is vital to build strong CVF-COP solidarity.
We want to see a Dhaka-Glasgow-CVF-COP26 Declaration emerge from November’s
meeting. We, the climate-vulnerable nations, want to see G20 submit ambitious
NDCs before COP26.”
BSS/AHJ/GMR/1107 hrs