DHAKA, March 30, 2019 (BSS) – Bangladesh has demanded in the United Nations to materialize the pledges made in the Paris agreement to mobilize 100 billion USD annually by 2020 and an ambitious replenishment for the Green Climate Fund in 2019 to mitigate adverse affects of climate change.
“The big emitters must go for rapid mitigation of GHGs,” State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam said at the High-Level Meeting on ‘Climate and Sustainable Development for All’ at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday, according to a message received here today.
He said the international community must support the vulnerable developing countries with financial resources and appropriate technologies in support of their adaptation efforts.
“The decisions of the Cop 24, namely Paris Rulebook, must be adhered to by all the stakeholders”, Shahriar said.
Quoting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, he said, “Bangladesh will never exceed the average per capita emission of the developing world.”
He reiterated Sheikh Hasina government’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and informed the meeting that Bangladesh has mainstreamed climate actions and disaster management in its national planning and sustainable development strategy where over one percent of GDP is being used to combat climate change.
“The forcibly displaced 1.1 million Rohingyas from Myanmar is not only impacting our land and environment severely but also our development and adaptation efforts,” he said.
Highlighting Bangladesh’s sustainable development and resilience building initiatives for tackling the climate change, the state minister said Bangladesh government has recently adopted Delta Plan 2100, which will provide the country with the sustainable development pathway for the next 100 years.
“We have also adopted ‘Carbon budgeting’, ‘de-carbonization of manufacturing pathways’ and low-carbon industrialization plans,” he said.
To ensure food security, Shahriar said Bangladesh has been investing in transforming agriculture practice to make it more resilient towards the impacts of climate change including introduction of drought and salinity resistant crop varieties.
He also shared some disaster preparedness measures by Bangladesh like ‘early warning system’, dissemination of information through ICT, establishment of cyclone shelters etc.
The General Assembly convened this meeting to focus the protection of the global climate for present and future generations, in the context of the economic, social and environmental dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
It is a part of the preparatory process for the upcoming Climate Action Summit of the Secretary-General scheduled in September 2019 to achieve the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda.