Stick to commitments, scale up climate fund: CPD to global leaders

A private think tank of Bangladesh said the global leaders must scale up the climate fund and limit carbon emissions as pledged to mitigate global warming and work out ways to deal with losses and damages.

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) jointly organised a virtual dialogue titled “Bangladesh’s Expectations from COP26” on Sunday, in order to shed lights on the expectations from the ensuing COP26, said a CPD press release.

The speakers said in less than two weeks, world leaders, government officials, negotiators, and representatives of the private sector and civil society organisations are going to attend the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

In view of the critical consequences, Bangladesh has active interest in the outcome of COP26. Five specific agendas are critically important for Bangladesh, according to Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of CPD.

She said the agendas are: ensuring the commitments of major carbon emitting countries to limit carbon emission, scaling up climate fund urgently to support climate vulnerable countries, ensuring the bigger share of climate fund towards adaptation, finalising the Paris Rulebook to ensure the accountability, and, establishing the mechanism to deal with losses and damages.

“The upcoming climate summit is going to be a defining moment for the world leaders. How they are going to implement the commitments of the Paris climate agreement are to be seen after the COP26.” said Dr Fahmida Khatun.

Another discussant, Professor Mizanur Rahman Khan, Deputy Director ofInternational Centre for Climate Change and Development, said the vulnerable countries like BAngladesh have to ensure the investment in renewable energy and energy infrastructures. Considering that the challenges are manifold, Khan proposed a collaborative action of all countries to produce and ‘Adaptation Communication.’

He also raised a question whether or not the UK-led COP26 would be able to change the game.

Charles Whiteley, Head of Delegation of the EU to Bangladesh was present as the Guest of Honour. While thanking CPD and ICCCAD for arranging the dialogue, he said many of the points featured in the study show a high degree of commonality with Bangladesh’s activities on climate change adaptation.

“The EU has already submitted their nationally determined contribution (NDC) emphasising 55 per cent greenhouse gas emission reduction by 2030,” Whiteley said.

He felt that the private sector has a bigger role to play in tackling climate change.

Professor Rehman Sobhan, Chairman of CPD, chaired the session. He said there exists some sort of asymmetry between individual responses and wider externality of the global system.

“Bangladesh should focus more on its own individual strategies and fulfilling the commitments to achieve the goals at the national level and that would automatically help the country achieve the global commitments as well,” Prof. Sobhan said.

The CPD chief said given that Bangladesh has indigenised her priority concerns regarding development, “the concept of vulnerability relates to individual lives, and therefore, climate is a class issue. Hence, there is a need for making the conferences and discussions more inclusive and the vulnerable groups who are worst affected must be integrated into the climate-related development priorities.”

Khushi Kabir, Member, CPD Board of Trustees and Coordinator, Nijera Kori, moderated the session.

In her introductory remarks, she said, climate change is a reality for Bangladesh as well the entire world.

“When we talk about progress, sustainable development and poverty reduction, discussion on climate change needs to be voiced which are a pressing need,” she said.