Bangladesh will take steps to get loss and damage fund quickly.
– Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Climate Matters Saber Hossain Chowdhury
Staff Reporter, Dhaka :
Honorable Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Environment and Climate Change and Chairman of the Standing Committee on Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry Saber Hossain Chowdhury said that Bangladesh will take steps to quickly get an effective loss and damage fund operationalized in COP-28. For this, the capacity building activities of the concerned officials of Bangladesh will be undertaken. He said that 19 countries have pledged a total of 792 million US dollars to the fund so far. This fund will increase in future. The new fund will initially be administered by the World Bank for four years.
Chairman of Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Saber Hossain Chowdhury said this in a Workshop on ’28th UN Climate Conference (COP28): Expectations and Achievements and Future Action Plans’ held on 21 December 2023, Thursday afternoon at the Auditorium of the Department of Environment.
Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Farhina Ahmed presided over the workshop whereas Professor Emeritus of BRAC University Dr. Ainun Nishat spoke as special guest. Additional Secretary (Admin) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Iqbal Abdullah Harun, Additional Secretary (Climate Change) Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik, Director General of the Department of Environment Dr. Abdul Hamid spoke among others. The panel discussion session was moderated by Dr Fazle Rabbi Sadeque Ahmed, DMD of Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation. Three thematic presentations were presented by the Ministry’s Deputy Secretary (Climate Change) Dharitri Kumar Sarker, Director (Air Quality) of the Department of Environment Md. Ziaul Haque and Director (Climate Change and International Conventions) Mirza Shawkat Ali.
Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Dr. Farhina Ahmed said, Bangladesh delegation in COP-28 played important role in different ways. She said, Some important decisions were taken at COP28 to combat climate change. During the opening plenary on the first day of the Dubai Climate Change Conference, a decision was taken to operationalize the new ‘Loss and Damage Fund’ previously established at COP27. So far, 19 countries have pledged a total of US$792 million to the fund. The new fund will initially be administered by the World Bank for four years. A consortium of UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and UN Office for Project Services will host the ‘Santiago Network for Loss and Damage’.
Secretary said, CoP28 adopted the ‘UAE Framework for Global Climate Resilience’ which aims to reduce the increasing adverse impacts, risks and vulnerabilities associated with climate change, as well as enhance adaptation activities and support. The activities of ‘Work Program on Just Transition Pathway’ have been started. It was decided to continue the dialogue, exchange of views and experiences on the scope of Article 2.1(c) of the Paris Agreement on aligning climate finance flows with the path of ‘Low GHG Emissions and Climate Resilient Development’ and its complementary Article 9 on climate finance.
She said, The Parties have adopted the GST in recognition of the need for deep, rapid and sustainable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in line with the goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5ᴼC. It encouraged member parties to make their next NDCs more ambitious, covering all sectors and adopting greenhouse gas emission reduction targets consistent with limiting global temperature rise to 1.5ᴼ C and phasing out fossil fuels in a fair, orderly and equitable manner.
Additional Secretary (Climate Change) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik said that Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been awarded the ‘Climate Mobility Champion Leader Award’ on the sidelines of this year’s COP-28 conference on 1 December 2023 as a leading voice in climate action and in recognition of her global contribution to people at risk of climate change. In addition, Bangladesh was awarded the ‘GCA Local Adaptation Champions Award’ in the ‘Innovation in Devolving Finance’ category, which highlights Bangladesh’s commitment to climate resilience and innovation at the local level.