Speakers at a programme here today said countries responsible for global carbon emissions should provide sufficient financial and technical support to the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), including Bangladesh, to tackle the adverse impacts of climate change.
Despite having little contribution to global carbon emission, LDC countries, including Bangladesh, are bearing the burden of excessive carbon emissions caused by industrialized nations, which are mainly responsible for global warming, a great challenge for the planet, they said.
They came up with the observation while addressing a seminar on “Conference of Parties (COP-23) at Jatiya Press Club.
Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Environment and Forest Ministry Dr Hasan Mahmud, eminent environmentalist Dr Atiq Rahman and chairman of Forum of Environmental Journalists of Bangladesh (FEJB) Quamrul Islam Chowdhury, among others, addressed the seminar with Dr Qazi Kholoquzzaman Ahmad in the chair.
Hasan said various milestone initiatives have been made in the country, including Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP), 2009, Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) and Climate Change Trust Fund (CCTF) and Climate Change Trust Act-2010, aiming to enhance capacity of vulnerable countries on climate change issue.
He said the Paris accord requires all countries to devise plans to achieve the goal of keeping the rise in temperatures within two degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels and strive for 1.5 C if possible.
Least Developed Countries (LDCs) must be united with developing strong leadership to pile up pressure on industrialized nations to take action to stem the planet’s rising temperatures, he added.
Hasan said Bangladesh is already facing adverse impact of global climate change and it is urgent to raise its voice to get adequate financing supports from green climate fund to make it climate resilient country.
Dr Qazi Kholoquzzaman Ahmad said, “Many people across the country have become refugees due to various reasons, including flood, erosion and cyclone. Basically they are climate change victims.”
Bangladesh alone cannot face climate change issue as it is a global phenomenon, he said, adding it should move bilaterally as well as multilaterally along with strong bargaining capacity to pile up pressure on rich nations to extend their financial and technical supports to climate vulnerable countries, he added.
