Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged to spend money on climate change instead of spending on war. He said, by this the world will be saved.
He said this at the opening ceremony of NAP Expo-2024 and Bangladesh Climate Development Partnership (BCDP) at the China Friendship Conference in the capital on Monday (April 22).
Sheikh Hasina said that in 1970, around 500,000 people died in the catastrophic cyclone and flood that occurred in Bangladesh. In ’91 another cyclone killed two lakh people. But in 2023 there was no loss of life in Cyclone ‘Mokha’. It is a manifestation of Bangladesh’s capacity in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
He said, in the last 15 years, 89 thousand 853 hectares of coastal forests have been created with tree plantations in an area of about 127 thousand 548 hectares of mountain and sal forests. We have framed the Social Forestry Rules 2010 (Amended) with the involvement of the local people.
The Prime Minister said, we have constructed the world’s largest ‘Khurushkul Special Shelter Project’ in Cox’s Bazar district for climate refugee families. Under this project, the goal of rehabilitating 4 thousand 409 climate refugee families has been set by constructing 139 multi-storied buildings. Apart from this, we have provided houses with land to climate refugees, landless due to natural calamities, homeless, other socially backward communities and provided them with education, health and employment opportunities. So far we have rehabilitated around 42 lakh people. Sharing of best practices has been undertaken through the South Asia Regional Office of the Global Center on Adaptation in Dhaka.
He said that 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. These adverse effects of climate change pose a threat to our potential development and economic prosperity. Due to continuous global warming, sea level rise, salinity is increasing. As a result, a large area of southwestern Bangladesh, which is about 12-17 percent of the country’s total area, is at risk of submergence by the end of this century.
Urging to limit the increase in global temperature to 1.5 degrees centigrade, the Prime Minister said, 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 set an unconditional 6.73 percent and a conditional 15.12 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emission targets.
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 60 lakh solar home systems have been installed and more than 45 lakh improved stoves have been distributed in rural areas.
The Prime Minister also said that we have 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, the MCPP emphasizes the voluntary participation of local people in adaptation and mitigation activities, nature-based solutions and the participation of all in society.
He said Bangladesh has already formulated the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2022-50. It was submitted to the UNFCCC in October 2022. In this plan, we have identified 113 priority activities in 8 sectors in 11 climate risk areas.
Calling upon rich countries and the international community, the Prime Minister said that we need about 230 billion US dollars to implement the action plans adopted by NAP in the next 27 years. I call upon rich countries and the international community to provide specific funding and additional financial resources for this.
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. We are taking appropriate actions in both adaptation and mitigation to reduce the potential damage caused by climate change. In this case, Bangladesh will take necessary steps to receive money from UNFCCC’s Loss and Damage Fund.
