Bangladesh seeks firm commitment to climate finance in COP26
Dhaka, Oct 28 (EFE).- Bangladesh would ask developed countries to pledge to increase their contribution in climate finance in the forthcoming COP26 summit in Glasgow, a senior government official said in Dhaka.
Political leaders, activists, global organizations, and companies from around the world will gather in the Scottish city for the United Nations COP26 climate summit, which kicks off on Oct.31.
Bangladesh, one of the most vulnerable countries to the climate crisis, said it needs funding for mitigation and adaptation.
The developed nations being the large carbon emitters must come forward with assistance.
“We want the developed countries to give a firm commitment to $100 billion climate funds and take effective steps in COP26 to keep the rise of the temperature limited to 1.5 degree Celsius,” Environment Minister Shahab Uddin told EFE.
“Many countries are yet to give funds. We expect a firm decision in the COP26 about how developed countries can contribute to the fund,” he said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will lead the country’s delegation in the conference where countries will discuss ways of deeper cut in greenhouse gas emissions among other key issues.
Hasina is also the current chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, an international forum of 48 countries from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Pacific most threatened by climate change.
Members of the forum, which have an active interest in the outcome of COP26, represent some 1.2 billion people worldwide.
The forum in September called for developed countries to come forward with a clear delivery plan for the promised $500 billion of balanced climate finance for adaptation and mitigation for the five years from 2020 to 2024.
Provision of the annual commitment of developed country parties to mobilize $100 billion climate finance annually to developing countries is critical to enabling action and sustaining trust in international cooperation, it said in a statement after a regional dialog.
In 2009, developed countries agreed to mobilize $100 billion in climate finance per year by 2020.
Quoting new analysis, the UK government, which will host COP26, in a report on Oct.25, said the $100-billion goal was unlikely to have been met in 2020 and is likely to also fall short in 2021 and 2022.
Experts warned ensuring funds will not be enough for countries like Bangladesh to reduce the risk of climate change.
“For Bangladesh finance and technology is required. But the fund that is being mobilized is not all too for the climate. Different kinds of ODA (Overseas Development Assistance) are also included in it,” said Fahmida Khatun, head of the think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
“Many others, which have no relation with the climate that is also being included. Clarity of the package should be also clear,” she said.
“For adaptation and mitigation fund, we see 64 percent is for mitigation and rest is for adaptation. But mitigation is an issue mostly applicable for developed countries as they use more energy. For countries like Bangladesh adaptation is most important.”
According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, nearly 700,000 Bangladeshis were displaced on an average every year by natural disasters owing to climate change.
The number of people displaced by climate change in Bangladesh could reach 13.3 million by 2050, making it the country’s number-one driver of internal migration, according to a World Bank report released in March 2018.
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