World would have been saved if war spending money was used to tackle climate impacts: PM

Dhaka, April 22, 2024 (BSS): Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid down six proposals to deal with the adverse effects of climate change to build a beautiful world for future generations and emphasized on the need to spend the money used in the war to protect the world.
“I can’t say without saying that the world would have been saved if the weapons and money had been spent on combating the harmful effects of climate change instead of fighting this war,” he said.
The Prime Minister said this while addressing the chief guest at the inaugural function of ‘National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Expo-2024’ and ‘Bangladesh Climate Development Partnership (BCDP)’ at the Bangabandhu International Convention Center in the capital this morning.
The head of government said, ‘We want to build a safe and beautiful world for future generations. This requires us to work more closely together to protect this landscape by building adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience and taking concerted initiatives to reduce risk.’
“I would like to briefly raise a few points for your consideration to build a better world for future generations,” he said.
First: Major carbon-emitting countries must take effective action to reduce their emissions to keep global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
Second, commitments of $100 billion annually to the climate fund by developed countries must be met. It should be equally distributed between adaptation and mitigation.
Thirdly, developed countries should come up with the most efficient energy solutions along with technology transfer to developing countries.
Fourth, the development priorities of the countries concerned should be considered according to their losses during the transition to renewable energy.
Fifth: All countries must share responsibility for resettlement of people displaced by sea-level rise, salinity, river erosion, floods and droughts, and
Finally, major economies must work with all partners globally in partnership to ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.
He said that Bangladesh is always working with the international community to deal with climate change. Meanwhile, Bangladesh Climate Development Partnership-BCDP has been formed under the leadership of the Prime Minister’s office with Bangladesh development partners. All parties have agreed on this. I hope that BCDP will contribute significantly to the implementation of Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan, National Adaptation Plan, National Determined Contribution and Bangladesh Vision 2041.
The Prime Minister said that Bangladesh has already formulated the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2022-2050. It was filed with NFCCC in October 2022. In this plan we have identified 113 priority activities in 8 sectors in 11 climate risk areas.
Sheikh Hasina said, we need about 230 billion US dollars to implement the action plans adopted in NAP in the next 27 years. I call on rich countries and the international community to provide specific funds and additional financial resources for this purpose.
He said that developed countries are playing a greater role in global warming through massive carbon emissions. It is their moral responsibility to protect the people affected by climate change. During our presidency of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), we have repeatedly called for the implementation of the pledge of $100 billion per year by developed countries for adaptation and mitigation activities. “I hope the developed countries will keep their promises,” he added.
The Prime Minister said, I am calling on the international community and rich countries to continue to provide financial, scientific and technical support to Bangladesh and other countries that are threatened by the adverse effects of climate change even after transitioning from LDC.
He said, according to the decision of COP-26, developed countries should double their adaptation financing by 2025 compared to 2019. I call on rich countries to implement it.
He also said that all the countries that have already formulated NAP should ensure that they can get financial support easily and quickly from other sources including UNFCCC for the purpose of implementing NAP.
“We are taking appropriate actions in both adaptation and mitigation to reduce the potential damage caused by climate change. In this case, Bangladesh should take necessary initiatives to receive money from UNFCCC’s Loss and Damage Fund, he said.
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Simon Stiel, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Farhina Ahmed and UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwen Lewis spoke at the event.
A short audio visual presentation on ‘Bangladesh Climate Development Partnership (BCDP)’ was also shown on the occasion.

The Prime Minister said that global initiatives were taken in 1992 to deal with the adverse effects of climate change.
He said, ‘It is their moral responsibility to protect the people affected by the harmful effects of climate change.’
But the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took an effective and far-reaching action plan in this regard in 1972 long before that. He started coastal afforestation in 1972 to protect against sea tides and natural calamities. In the same year formulated the ‘Cyclone Preparedness Programme’ which was inaugurated in 1973. He built cyclone shelters in coastal areas to protect lives and property. These shelters are known as ‘Mujib Killa’ to the locals.
He said, following the footsteps of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib, we are implementing various programs with our own resources to deal with the adverse effects of climate change. In 2009 we established the ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund’ with our own funding to implement adaptation activities. Under this, 969 projects have been taken up at a cost of about 500 million dollars so far.
The Prime Minister said that about 37 thousand crore rupees are being spent through 25 concerned ministries in the program of sea dams, cyclone shelters, coastal afforestation etc. in the fiscal year 2023-2024.
“In 1970 the catastrophic cyclone and flood in Bangladesh killed nearly five lakh people but in 2023 there was no loss of life in Cyclone ‘Mokha’,” he said, noting that this is a demonstration of Bangladesh’s capacity in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
He said, “In the last 15 years, we have planted 89 thousand 853 hectares of coastal forest along with plantations in an area of ​​1 lakh 27 thousand 5048 hectares of mountain and sal forests. We have formulated the Social Forestry Rules 2010 (Amended) with the involvement of the local people.’
Apart from rehabilitating climate refugee families and creating employment for them, initiatives have been taken to share best practices through the South Asia Regional Office of the Global Center on Adaptation in Dhaka.
Although our 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, the head of government said, as a result of continued global warming, the sea level is increasing. 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 said, ‘We have called upon the developed world to limit the rise in global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Bangladesh formulated the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (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.’
The Prime Minister said that 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 60 lakh solar home systems have been installed and more than 45 lakh improved stoves have been distributed in rural areas.
He said his government has formulated the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan (MCPP) in 2023. It aims to address the adverse effects of climate change from vulnerability to resilience and from resilience to prosperity.
Besides, he also mentioned that MCPP emphasizes on self-motivated participation of local people, nature-based solutions and participation of all the society in adaptation and mitigation activities.