Greater resilience needed to build a safer world

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called for increasing adaptive capacity and strengthening resilience to build a safe and beautiful world for future generations.

“We aim to build a safe and beautiful world for future generations. Achieving this goal requires increasing adaptive capacity, strengthening resilience, and undertaking coordinated risk reduction initiatives,” she said.

The prime minister said this while inaugurating the four-day UN Climate Adaptation Conference National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Expo 2024 at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC)

In order to achieve this goal, she put forward six proposals.

First, major carbon-emitting countries must take effective action to reduce their emissions to limit the rise of global temperature to within 1.5°C.

Second, commitments by developed countries to an annual climate fund of $100 billion must be met. This fund must be equally distributed between adaptation and mitigation.

Third, developed countries must ensure efficient energy solutions and the transfer of technologies to developing countries.

Fourth, during the transition to renewable energy, the development priorities of the countries involved should be taken into account based on their losses and damages.

Fifth, all countries must share the responsibility for the rehabilitation of people displaced by sea-level rise, salinity, river erosion, floods, and droughts.

Finally, major economies must work globally in partnership with all stakeholders to ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Secretary Farhina Ahmed, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Simon Steele and Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury, among others, also spoke at the programme.

The prime minister said that although Bangladesh’s contribution to global carbon emissions is less than 0.48 percent, it is one of the most affected and vulnerable countries to its negative impact.

“These adverse effects of climate change threaten our potential development and economic prosperity. Continued global warming is raising sea levels.”

As a result, she mentioned, a large swath of southwestern Bangladesh, which comprises about 12–17 percent of the country’s total area, is at risk of submergence by the end of this century.

“We have made the call to the developed world to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C,” she said.

Hasina mentioned that in 2015, Bangladesh formulated the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and submitted it to the UNFCCC in 2021 after updating.

In the document, she said, Bangladesh set an unconditional 6.73 percent and a conditional 15.12 percent greenhouse gas emission reduction target.

She also mentioned that Bangladesh has reduced the use of fossil fuels and increased the use of renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and in 2023 it formulated the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan (MCPP), which aims to reach from vulnerability to resilience to prosperity while combating the adverse impacts of climate change.

Besides, she said in the adaptation and mitigation programmes of the MCPP, emphasis has been laid on the spontaneous participation of local people and stakeholders and nature-based solutions.