March 29, 2024, 5:11 pm


SAMI

Published:
2020-10-08 02:49:58 BdST

Act fast to save planet: Prime Minister to global leaders


Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said it is today, not tomorrow, to take action to save the planet as mankind is going to lose its 'war against nature'.

"In our war against nature, we’ll only lose. All our actions manifest that we’re consciously destroying the very support systems that are keeping us alive. So, the time to take action to save the planet is not tomorrow, but today," she said.

The Prime Minister said this while addressing the virtual Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) leaders' event from her official residence Ganabahban.

As the current president of the CVF, she chaired the event which was hosted by Bangladesh along with Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA).

She put emphasis on the strict implementation of the Paris Agreement saying that it is the only way to slow down the current rate of damages caused by climate change.

Sheikh Hasina said the governments should not only honour their national contributions under the Paris Agreement, they also need to substantially increase their ambitions. The idea of climate justice must be established for the sake of climate and the planet.

She said more vigorous provision of finance must be ensured by major economies, MDBs, and IFIs along with access to technology.

Hasina also urged all to take bold steps to address and mainstream the issue of losses and damages. "We should also ensure that at least USD 100 billion a year are available to developing countries for mitigation, adaptation and disaster response and recovery." 

The Prime Minister said humans are presently at the most important crossroad of its history facing the gravest global challenges of its time. The adverse impacts of climate change are harming the civilisation, destroying the planet and threatening its very existence. 

“We, the CVF leaders and our partners, call upon everyone to take urgent and strong global steps to address climate emergency before the 2020 NDC Enhancement deadline,” she said.

Hasina said Bangladesh is honoured to be chosen to lead the Climate Vulnerable Forum for the second time. The CVF represents over one billion people of the world’s most vulnerable countries. CVF countries suffer the most despite their insignificant contributions to the global carbon emission.

"As president, our focus will be galvanising support for the goal to keep the global temperature-increase up to 1.5 degrees, accelerating financing mechanisms and highlighting the narratives of climate resilience, and ‘loss and damage’ issue," she said.

She also said CVF will also put emphasis on appointing a UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and creating a CVF and V20 Joint Multi-Donor Fund.

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh launched the South Asian regional office for Global Center of Adaptation in Dhaka on September 8, which will act as the Secretariat for Bangladesh presidency and facilitate, support and develop appropriate actions in South Asia to enhance climate resiliency in the region.

According to the Climate Change Vulnerability Index, 2019 of German Watch, Bangladesh is the seventh worst affected country of the world due to the adverse impacts of climate change, she said.

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