POLITICS OF CLIMATE CHANGE
The Climate Action Summit in New York has failed to deliver
The world leaders who are responsible for emitting most of the greenhouse gases are not willing to take the requisite actions at the scale and pace that is required.
We are not on track for 2030 climate targets
We are at the halfway point of this time frame; if we review the current situation, the progress is not good.
Macron’s support for an ‘adaptation pact’ with Bangladesh
Macron first told us that he had had a one-on-one conversation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina already in which he’d offered assistance from France to Bangladesh to work on an energy transition partnership.
Scale up climate change adaptation as soon as possible
While Bangladesh has been doing quite well in adapting to climate change, there is still a long way to go with not much time to waste. Serious actions need to be taken urgently to boost the country’s resilience.
In funding climate actions, we can be more creative
Leaders who attend COP28 will have to rise to the occasion with the sense of urgency that the climate change crisis requires today.
What our new climate envoy can do for Bangladesh
Last month the PM Sheikh Hasina appointed Saber Hossain Chowdhury, member of parliament, as her climate envoy.
Enter ‘global boiling’
“The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.”
We need a loss and damage report from the IPCC
A special report on loss and damage will capture the significant amount of scientific research being carried out now on different aspects of tackling climate change.
How the Green Climate Fund can be more effective
It has now been well over five years since the Green Climate Fund (GCF) was set up with its headquarters in Songdo, Korea to support both mitigation and adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries. It received an initial contribution of around USD 10 billion and is now undergoing a review of its performance in anticipation of a major replenishment of funds from 2020 onwards.
Children are at risk due to climate change, but they are also sources of solutions
A recent report from Unicef mentions that 19 million (or one in three) children in Bangladesh are at risk from the effects of climate change.
Time to enhance global support to the most vulnerable communities
The massive cyclone Idai that devastated Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe last week has destroyed 90 percent of Beira, the second biggest city in Mozambique.
How children are educating adults on climate change
Over the last two decades or more, the global scientific community has been raising the alarm about climate change, through the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which were then considered by the governments of the world at the annual Conference of Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
How refugees, migrants and climate change are related
At the global level there has been a recent set of decisions in the different fora dealing with refugees, migrants and climate change to bring the three issues together and plan better so that we can avoid potential future crisis.
A talking point for COP25
The topic of loss and damage from human-induced climate change has been a highly politically sensitive issue in international negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for many years with vulnerable developing countries, including Bangladesh, arguing in its favour and the rich countries arguing against it.
Why we should set our sights on climate diplomacy
Over the last two decades, the issue of global climate change has shifted from being primarily an environmental issue to a global security and diplomatic issue as well. Hence many countries have shifted responsibility from the ministry of environment to the foreign ministry as the focal ministry to handle the issue.
Environmental challenges that can't be ignored
It is now well over a year since nearly 700,000 Rohingyas were forced out of Myanmar and Bangladesh opened its borders to them and gave them shelter in the Cox's Bazar region.
Climate change, a global security threat
In the last week of January, the United Nations Security Council in New York held a special session on climate change as a global security threat.
Aligning climate plans for a greater impact
Bangladesh has a long tradition of national development planning under the aegis of the General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission, through the seven Five Year Plans prepared since we became an independent country.