Vulnerable countries need urgent funds to survive climate change: Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged rich nations to finally make good on their pledge to provide $100 billion a year to fund carbon emission reduction and climate adaptation projects in developing countries.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 31 Oct 2021, 05:33 AM
Updated : 31 Oct 2021, 05:45 AM

Such redistribution is climate justice—and “we will not succeed in curbing our carbon emissions unless the world's poorest and most affected by climate change are shielded from the costs of the energy transition", according to an opinion piece co-written by Hasina in Newsweek with Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation, on Oct 30.

“We must stand together to survive.”

The article comes in the run-up to the 2021 United Nations climate change conference, which will begin on Sunday in Scotland’s Glasgow. It is the first conference since the 2015 iteration, where 196 parties signed the Paris Climate Accords to limit global greenhouse gas emissions.

The article notes that the effects of climate change will not be felt equally by all nations, but will pose an ‘existential threat’ to the 48 countries in the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), which Hasina chairs.

Island states such as Vanuatu, the Maldives and the Marshall Islands are at risk from rising sea levels while saltwater infiltration threatens to poison the food basket of 160 million people in Bangladesh, and extreme temperatures and severe droughts could make large sections of the Middle East uninhabitable, it said.

“For the countries that make up the CVF, action on climate change, already urgent, simply cannot be delayed any longer.”

The International Monetary Fund estimates that between $6-10 trillion must be invested over the next decade to convert the world’s economy into a green one, Hasina and Verkooijen wrote.

“First, we will ask that rich countries finally make good on their pledge before the landmark 2015 Paris agreement to provide $100 billion a year to fund carbon emissions reduction and climate adaptation projects in the developing world.”

“Because climate-vulnerable countries are already living with the devastating effects of our warming planet, at least half of this funding—$50 billion a year—must be earmarked for adaptation. We can then work on ways to transform these billions into the trillions needed to allow countries to move from climate vulnerability to climate prosperity.”

The article also cited data from the Global Center on Adaptation that said investment of $1.8 trillion in the key areas of early-warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, improved dryland agriculture, mangrove protection and increased water resilience by 2030 could lead to $7.1 trillion in benefits. Accordingly, the authors urged the private sector to step up with climate funding.

Other demands presented in the editorial include urging pension funds and other banking institutions to redirect investment to climate-change resilience, to implement the carbon abatement schemes that could channel revenue to countries suffering the worst consequences of climate change and that pandemic recovery resources be used while keeping climate adaptation in mind.

“The response by governments around the world to the COVID-19 pandemic has shown what is possible when we face imminent peril,” the editorial said. “We must harness this same drive in our response to existential climate threats.”

“Greater ambition from the world is needed to fend off the climate crisis. Greater funding for CVF countries will enable them to move from climate vulnerability to climate prosperity. That will be good for the 48 countries in greatest peril right now, but also for all those facing increasing threats. It is quite simply the right thing to do.”