As we enter the third year of this decade, we have only seven more years until 2030 to tackle the major global problems of climate change and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Unfortunately, the world is not on track to meet the targets it has set for itself, so we need to work doubly hard to achieve them in less …
Everything you need to know about the Loss and Damage Fund
The series of extreme weather events in 2022 fuelled by climate change that devastated lives and livelihoods of millions – from the floods in Pakistan and China to droughts in Somalia, Ethiopia, Brazil, and Europe – set a clarion call for the long-awaited climate finance, also known as loss and damage finance. After years of hard negotiations, at the world’s …
The who’s and how’s of allocating loss and damage funds
During the negotiations on funding for loss and damage in COP27 in Egypt last November, representatives of developed countries had a lot of reservations about such a proposal. My answer to them was that, while their questions were quite legitimate, they would only get answers after we received a political commitment from their leaders to establish the funding mechanism in …
Reflections on the climate change actions of 2022
The year 2022 was indeed a critical year for tackling climate change at global, national, and local levels. Let me start at the personal level by acknowledging two major events for me. The first was at the beginning of 2022 when I was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the British Government and later given the medal …
Bangladesh takes another step in leading global climate adaptation
On December 11, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally launched the new Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) in Dhaka along with the foreign minister and environment minister, and Ban Ki-Moon, head of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA). The new Global Hub on LLA will be located in the Dhaka office of the GCA, which is located in the …
What Bangladesh must do now as a global climate leader
The recent agreement by all countries to establish a new fund for loss and damage from human-induced climate change at COP27 was a simple recognition of an unfortunate reality that has existed for a long time. The reality is that the impacts that are now scientifically attributable to global temperature rise are now happening every day around the world, and …
The story behind the loss and damage fund at COP27
COP27 ended a day overtime on November 20 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt with the historic achievement of a new fund for addressing loss and damage in vulnerable developing countries. Today, I want to tell the story of how this was achieved. The demand for rich countries to shoulder their responsibility for historic pollution – which has raised the global temperature …
Negotiations going strong at COP27
As we near the end of the two weeks of intense negotiations at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (Conference of Parties – COP27) here in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, things are certainly heating up. The biggest and newest issue is that of loss and damage finance, which was finally accepted as an official agenda item in a COP …
Forget COP27, the youth should hold an ‘Accountability COP’
We are running out of options to ensure COP pledges are actually fulfilled
With the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as 27th Conference of Parties (COP27), set to begin in Egypt next week, it is important to look back on the progress that has been made around the world, by government and private actors, civil society, youth and the media. Much of the pledges of actions to tackle climate change …
A new coalition to address loss and damage emerges
During the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland last year, developing countries put forward a proposal to create a Finance Facility for Loss and Damage (FFLD), which was not accepted by developed countries. Instead, they replaced it by setting up the Glasgow Dialogue on Finance for Loss and Damage, which would carry on for three years before …