In order to equip the future generations with the skills to deal with climate change, the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) has a target – Target 4.7 – that requires that, by 2030, all learners will acquire the knowledge and skills through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyle, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace …

Among the three strategies for addressing climate change – mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage (L&D) – the latter two continue to suffer from interpretational ambiguities. Adaptation does not have an agreed definition under the climate regime. Loss and damage is not yet considered as a third strategy by developed countries. But developing countries don’t agree. Under the Paris Agreement, …

Bangladesh is set to graduate out of the Least Developed Country (LDC) category in the next few years, and then become a developed country by 2041 while achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. We have even developed the Delta Plan 2100. This will require us to transition as quickly as possible from a labour-based economy to a knowledge-based …

The World Bank recently published a thorough analysis of various adverse impacts of human-induced climate change that will hit the coastal districts of Bangladesh over the coming decades, increasing the frequency and severity of coastal flood events. The estimated losses amount to USD 570 million every year going forward if measures are not taken to minimise those impacts. Let me …

Over the last few weeks, a number of developments around the world has brought forth the need to hold polluters responsible for the loss and damage they have been causing the planet. The latest such event is the devastating floods in Pakistan, which has been scientifically attributed to human-induced climate change. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the floods “climate …

Over the last 50 years, Bangladesh has been recognised in South Asia as well as around the world as a laboratory for development success in alleviating poverty, girls’ education and inclusion in the workforce, and unlocking the potential of the private sector in banking, industries and commerce, among others. This development was by no means perfect, particularly when it comes …

The ongoing devastating floods in Pakistan, which follow a deadly heat wave from just a few weeks back, is not just another flood event. They are, in fact, a manifestation of the undoubted fact that the world is already suffering the impacts of climate change and the consequent losses and damages. Even when the floodwaters continue to inundate nearly a …

As the world is currently in the era of loss and damage from human-induced climate change, the need for Bangladesh to invest in different aspects of the issue at the global level has also entered a new era which will need significant investment in enhancing our capacities for climate diplomacy in different platforms. Let’s start with the annual Conferences of …

The tiny island nation of Vanuatu, located in the Pacific Ocean, is highly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of human-induced climate change. And along with other climate vulnerable island countries in the Pacific, it has been leading the world on the issue of loss and damage. Recently, Vanuatu prepared a resolution for the upcoming session of the United Nations General …

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed 30 years ago at the Earth Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by all the governments of the world. The first annual Conference of Parties (COP1) was held in Berlin, Germany, with the then Environment Minister of Germany, Angela Merkel, as COP President in 1995. Since then, there …