Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addressed the opening ceremony of ‘National Adaptation Plan Expo-2024’ at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center in the capital on Monday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged the world leaders to spend that money instead of spending money on war to combat the adverse effects of climate change.
He made this call at the opening ceremony of ‘National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Expo-2024’ at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center in Dhaka on Monday.
“The world would have been saved if that money had been spent on climate change instead of arms and money on war,” the Prime Minister said.
His daughter Sheikh Hasina commented that Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman ‘took a global initiative’ in 1972 to deal with the adverse effects of climate change.
He said, “Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib raised the issue of natural disasters in the international forum. He established the National Herbarium on July 1, 1975 for the preservation and research of plant species of the country. He has taken a number of steps to address the impact of climate change and achieve resilience.”
The Prime Minister said, “The Awami League-led government is implementing various programs to deal with the adverse effects of climate change with its own resources as shown by Bangabandhu.
“In 2009, we established the ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund’ with our own funds to implement adaptation activities. Under this, 969 projects have been taken up at a cost of about 500 million dollars so far.”
In the program, Sheikh Hasina presented the information of spending about 37 thousand crore taka through 25 ministries in 2023-2024 financial year on sea dam, cyclone shelter, coastal forestry etc.
Pointing out the difference between the 1970 cyclone-flood and last year’s cyclone ‘Mokha’ damage, he said, “At that time (1970) nearly five lakh people died. But there was no loss of life in Mokha. This is a manifestation of Bangladesh’s capacity in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.”
The Prime Minister said that 89 thousand 853 hectares of coastal forests have been created with tree plantations in the area of 1 lakh 27 thousand 548 hectares of hill and sal forests in the last decade and a half.
Highlighting the government’s activities, the Prime Minister said, “We have built the world’s largest ‘Khurushkul Special Shelter Project’ in Cox’s Bazar district for climate refugee families. Under this project, 4 thousand 409 climate refugee families have been constructed by constructing 139 multi-storey buildings. , landless, homeless, people from other backward communities have been given houses and education, health and employment opportunities have been created for them. So far we have rehabilitated about 42 lakh people.
The Prime Minister said that although Bangladesh’s contribution to global carbon emissions is less than 0.48 percent, Bangladesh is one of the countries most affected and vulnerable to its negative effects.
“Continued global warming is causing sea level rise. As a result, a large area of southwestern Bangladesh, about 12-17% of the country’s total area, is at risk of submergence by the end of this century.”
Sheikh Hasina urged the developed world to limit the rise in global temperature (compared to the pre-industrial era) to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
He said, “Bangladesh formulated the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) in 2015 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and updated it in 2021 and submitted it to the UNFCCC. In this, we have set a target of 6.73% unconditional and 15.12% conditional reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.”
He said, “In Bangladesh, we have reduced the use of fossil fuels and increased the use of renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So far, about 6 million solar home systems have been installed and more than 4.5 million improved stoves have been distributed in rural areas.”
Highlighting the ‘Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan’ (MCPP) formulated last year, Sheikh Hasina said, “In the MCPP, the self-motivated participation of the local people, nature-based solutions and the participation of the entire society in adaptation and mitigation activities have been emphasized.”
Calling upon the international community, the Prime Minister said, “Bangladesh has already formulated the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2022-2050. It has been submitted to the UNFCCC in October 2022. In this plan, we have identified 113 priority activities in 8 sectors in 11 climate risk areas.”
The prime minister drew the attention of the rich countries of the world and the international community to take measures for this financial resource by saying that about 230 million dollars are needed for the implementation of this action plan.
He said, “Developed countries are contributing more to global warming through massive carbon emissions. It is their moral responsibility to protect the people affected by climate change. During our tenure as president of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), developed countries pledged $100 billion annually for adaptation and mitigation activities. I have repeatedly called for the implementation of the matter. I hope that the developed countries will keep their promises.
Sheikh Hasina said, “According to the decision of COP-26, developed countries should double their adaptation financing by 2025 compared to 2019. I call on the rich countries to implement it. All the countries that have already formulated NAP, they should cooperate with UNFCCC and other countries to implement NAP. It must be ensured that financial support can be obtained easily and quickly from all sources.”
The head of government said that Bangladesh is taking appropriate activities in both adaptation and mitigation to reduce potential damage due to climate change. In this case, UNFCCC has ‘Loss and Damage’ fund, Bangladesh will take necessary steps to get the money.
Sheikh Hasina highlighted several issues in increasing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and taking joint initiatives to reduce risks to build a safe and beautiful world.
First, major carbon-emitting countries must take effective action to reduce their emissions to keep global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Second, developed countries must meet their $100 billion annual commitment to the Climate Fund. It should be equally distributed between adaptation and mitigation.
Third, developed countries need to come up with the most efficient energy solutions along with technology transfer to developing countries.
Fourth, the development priorities of the countries concerned should consider their losses during the transition to renewable energy.
Fifth, all countries must share the responsibility of rehabilitating people displaced by sea level rise, salinity, river erosion, floods and droughts.
Finally, major economies must work globally in partnership to ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.
Sheikh Hasina said that Bangladesh is always working with the international community to combat climate change.
He expressed hope that BCDP will contribute significantly to the implementation of ‘Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan’, ‘National Adaptation Plan’, ‘National Determined Contribution’ and Bangladesh Vision 2041.
