State of climate change discourse in the United States I have just returned from a three-week lecture tour of universities in the United States which took me to New York (Columbia University), Washington, DC (George Washington University), Maryland (University of Maryland) and Nashville (Vanderbilt University). I also participated in the weeklong annual Resilience Academy at the Woodrow Wilson Centre and …

The realities of Rohingya refugees – What do we do next? In the last few days I had the opportunity to visit the Rohingya camps in Ukhia near the Myanmar border to observe the conditions of the refugees as well as the environment of the area. I will share some very preliminary observations on the situation. The first is of …

From donors to partners Our relationship with developed countries needs to change so that we can become an active partner from a passive recipient of aid In my column last week, I wrote about the prospects of Bangladesh graduating from Least Developed Country (LDC) status in the next few years and the need to anticipate the consequent loss of access …

While he was still running to become President, Trump Tweeted that climate change was a Chinese hoax. Then after he was elected there was speculation that he might change his mind. This became especially acute when his daughter Ivanka held a high profile meeting with former Vice President Al Gore in which Trump also dropped in. Then the Whitehouse held …

The principles of equity, justice and fairness are fundamental to understanding and addressing the challenges of global climate change. This is because the problem has been caused by the emissions of the rich countries for several centuries but will primarily impact the poorest people and poorest countries. Hence, when countries came together to discuss and agree to take actions under …

The journey is not an easy one but we can get there if the people, and the public and private sectors work together. The global develop- ment discourse is constantly evolving over time. Sometimes we use different terms to mean the same thing. The buzzwords “green growth” and “green development” are two such interchangeable terms that are currently trending in …

I recently took a group of international young researchers from a number of countries on a field visit from Dhaka to the south coast around Khulna to demonstrate to them how Bangladeshis have adapted over the centuries and more recent decades to changes in the ecosystems in which the people live. However, it came to light that adaptation was not …

The G20 meeting of leaders of the world’s 20 biggest economies ended a few days ago in Hamburg, Germany with a strong statement of commitment for implementing the Paris Agreement on Climate Change by 19 of the leaders, with the exception of President Trump who has decided to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. This marks the effective split …

I have just returned from Kampala, Uganda, where I attended the 11th International Conference on Community Based Adaptation (CBA11), where around 300 participants from over fifty countries came together for a week of discussions and knowledge-sharing on how the most vulnerable communities around the world are already taking action to tackle climate change at the local level. This conference series …

Now that the challenge of tackling global climate change has been universally accepted by all countries and people (with the notable exception of Mr Trump and his cronies in the White House and Federal US government) through the Paris Agreement, it is important for all countries, companies, NGOs, universities and other relevant stakeholders to share knowledge and hard technology for …