Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF) in the Bangladesh Government Md Shahab Uddin on Tuesday stated environmentally destructive investment patterns and activities must be avoided to assure durable and resilient recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
Minister made the remark while addressing a webinar titled “Building a Clean and Resilient Recovery from the COVID-19” organized by Bangladesh and the United Kingdom Mission to the UN and World Resources Institute.
Shahab Uddin maintained a sustainable and resilient COVID-19 recovery should be built, synced with advance national climate plans, long-term strategies, and achievement of the SDGs.
Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Md. Shahab Uddin
“For the economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis to be durable and resilient, a return to environmentally destructive investment patterns and activities must be avoided,” MInister of MOEF stated adding that climate change and biodiversity loss could generate social and economic damage far larger than those induced by COVID-19.
He also emphasized inclusiveness which has been praised by the participants at large.
From the perspective of the “Paris Agreement,” he said the relative importance of various dimensions will likely vary across different country contexts.
He also stated recovery packages to “build back better” include association with long-term emission reduction goals, factoring in resilience to climate impacts, decreasing biodiversity loss, and increasing circularity of supply chains.
Triggering investments and societal changes will both reduce the likelihood of future shocks and improve our resilience to those shocks when they do occur, whether from disease or environmental degradation, he added.
Minister Shahab Uddin also told prioritizing short-term economic growth and efficiency over long-term resilience can have huge societal costs. To develop public support, recovery policies need to be measured on more than just economic growth and total job creation.
Rt Hon Lord Zac Goldsmith, Minister for the Environment for the United Kingdom; Keeyong Chung, Director General for Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Scientific Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea; Ambassador Valentine Rugwabiza, Permanent Representative of Rwanda; Ambassador E. Courtenay Rattray, Permanent Representative of Jamaica; Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, Additional Secretary (Development Wing) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bangladesh, among others, delivered speech on the online meeting.
Helen Mountford, Vice President, Climate & Economics, World Resources Institute was the moderator of the side event.
