Want to build a safe and beautiful world for future generations: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid down six proposals to combat the adverse effects of climate change to build a beautiful world for future generations and stressed the need to spend the money used in the war to protect the world.

He said, ‘One thing I can’t say is, if instead of spending weapons and money on this war, they would have been spent on combating the harmful effects of climate change, the world would have been saved.’

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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 on Monday morning.

The Prime Minister 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 within one and a half degrees Celsius.

Second, $100 billion in annual climate fund commitments 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 in partnership with all partners globally 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. Already, under the leadership of the Prime Minister’s office, the ‘Bangladesh Climate Development Partnership-BCDP’ has been formed 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 submitted to the UNFCCC in October 2022. In this plan we have identified 113 priority activities in eight sectors in 11 climate risk areas.

Sheikh Hasina said that 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 contributing more to 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 $100 billion per year pledged 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 the countries which 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 regard, he asked Bangladesh to take necessary initiatives to receive money from UNFCCC’s Loss and Damage Fund.

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 a global initiative was taken in 1992 to combat 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. 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 combat the adverse effects of climate change. We are in 2009 to implement the adaptation program
We have established ‘Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund’ with our own funding. 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 for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

He said, ‘In the last 15 years, we have done 89 thousand 853 hectares of coastal afforestation along with tree plantation in an area of ​​about 127 thousand 548 hectares of mountain and sal forests. We have formulated the Social Forestry Rules 2010 (Amended) with the involvement of the local people.’

In addition to 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 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 ​​the southwestern part of Bangladesh, which is about 12-17 percent of the country’s total area, is at risk of disappearing under the sea by the end of this century.

Sheikh Hasina said, ‘We have called upon the developed world to limit the increase in global temperature to one and a half 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 unconditional 6.73 percent and conditional 15.12 percent 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, so that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced. 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 move from vulnerability to resilience and from resilience to prosperity by addressing the adverse effects of climate change.

Apart from this, he also mentioned that the MCPP emphasizes on the self-motivated participation of local people, nature-based solutions and the participation of the whole society in adaptation and mitigation activities.