Momen urges global community to share climate migrants’ burden

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has called upon the global community to share the burden of climate migrants’ rehabilitation.

“Climate-induced displacement could lead to a global security risk in today’s interconnected world,” he warned.

The Bangladesh foreign minister was speaking at a roundtable on “Environment of Peace: Securing a just and peaceful transition in a new era of risk”, organised by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on the sidelines of the Stokholm+50 international meeting in Sweden on Friday, a foreign ministry press release said in Dhaka on Saturday.

Momen said that the international community is not doing enough for millions of ‘climate migrants’ who often get subjected to various forms of security risks and exploitations.

He emphasised the significance of creating global awareness on the climate-security nexus and an enforcement mechanism to address the challenges.

The foreign minister also held a bilateral meeting with the Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation Matilda Ernkrans and discussed how to enhance cooperation on climate change, education and other areas.

He urged the Swedish minister to put pressure on Myanmar for bringing back the forcibly displaced Rohingya with safety and dignity.

Momen also underlined that the business-as-usual approach with Myanmar will not make any progress.

He also met the UN Under-Secretary-General and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Inger Andersen and discussed how to strengthen collaboration with UNEP on environmental and climate issues.

Andersen applauded Bangladesh’s successful responses to climate change related challenges under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

She proposed to assist Bangladesh from the Climate Technology Fund, hosted by UNEP to address climate challenges.

Besides, Bangladesh foreign minister also spoke at a Leadership Dialogue on “Achieving a sustainable and inclusive recovery from the covid-19 pandemic”.

At the dialogue, Momen suggested overcoming the division between technology and economic interests and strengthening international cooperation for a sustainable and inclusive future for all irrespective of ethnicity, religion, colour, gender and political divide.

He also recommended increasing investment in climate adaptation, mitigation and resilience, changing food production and consumption patterns and stopping natural habitat and biodiversity loss.

Momen was on a three-day visit to Swedish capital Stockholm to participate in the Stockholm+50 international meeting, convened to commemorate the 50 years since the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, the release said.