The young climate activists from the Bangladesh Youth CoP 2024 conference have placed a 14-point demand to ensure climate justice in Bangladesh 2.0.
The youths presented their manifesto and the 14-point demand at the closing ceremony of the three-day Bangladesh Youth CoP 2024 conference held at Aloki Convention Centre in the capital on Wednesday (September 18). ActionAid Bangladesh and the Brighters Society of Bangladesh, a youth-led organization jointly organised the event.
Dr. Ainun Nishat, an eminent climate expert in Bangladesh; Farah Kabir, Country Director of ActionAid Bangladesh; Nardia Simpson, Acting High Commissioner of Australia; Anders B. Karlsen, Deputy Head of Mission at the Danish Embassy; DEUR Julien, Head of the Economic Department at the French Embassy; Nayoka Martinez, First Secretary at the Swedish Embassy; Korvi Rakhshand, Founder of Jaago Foundation; Arif M Faisal, Programme Specialist at UNDP Bangladesh; Mozammel Haque, Senior Climate Analyst at BRAC; Ariful Islam Adib and Monira Sharmin, members of Jatiya Nagorik Committee; among others, spoke in the closing ceremony and other sessions of the three-day conference.
The conference, held in hybrid format, brought together over 200 young representatives from across the country. The young climate activists at the conference discussed pressing climate issues such as safe drinking water shortages, wetland crises, and the hardships faced by drought and flood-affected areas. They also exchanged views with experts on these matters.
The conference emphasised the importance of implementing climate justice through youth-led initiatives and a green economy. Key discussions focused on renewable energy, addressing the losses and damages caused by climate change, and prioritising the impacts on marginalized communities, especially women and adolescents.
Prior to the conference, a series of consultations were conducted with youths from grassroots areas, including Cox’s Bazar, Satkhira, Kurigram, Sunamganj and Bandarban, to gather their opinions on climate change.
However, various sessions during the three-day conference addressed youth-led disaster management, climate finance, a feminist perspective on climate justice, the role of the media in addressing climate change, and climate-related policies. National and international climate experts participated in these discussions.
The discussions highlighted the need for effective policies and initiatives at all levels to tackle the impacts of climate change and establish climate justice in Bangladesh.
Speakers called upon the government and other institutions concerned to enhance youth capacity and take youth-led initiatives to address climate change issues.
In the closing session, Farah Kabir emphasized the need to create opportunities for youth to lead initiatives on climate justice and ensure that their demands reach national policymakers and decision-makers at CoP-29 in Azerbaijan. “Young people are taking initiative to achieve climate justice in new Bangladesh. We have to create spaces and scopes for them. I believe the Bangladesh Youth CoP will be able to get attention from the national and international policymakers,” she said.
Dr. Ainun Nishat said, “The climate crisis is not an isolated issue. Our country has laws in place. We need to assess the extent to which solutions to each problem can be implemented at the local level. Youth should lead local-level disaster and water management initiatives. Moreover, the parameters of climate change adaptation must be gender-sensitive and youth-oriented.”
Young climate activist Jannatul Naeem said, “People in the most marginalized areas of Bangladesh are suffering the most from this global climate crisis. We have heard about the struggles of around 800 climate activists in these marginalized areas over the past month. Through these 14 demands, we want to influence policy discussions at both the national and international levels.”
Nardia Simpson underscored the need for sustained advocacy in the fight against climate change, saying: "We need to consistently raise our voices to address the climate crisis. At the same time, young people must unite and collectively raise awareness about climate issues. We must repeatedly communicate to those who deny the climate crisis through policy advocacy. We need to take this effort to a larger scale."
Emphasizing the importance of inclusive participation in addressing the climate crisis, Anders B. Karlsen said, "The climate crisis is a global and mainstream issue. We must listen to the demands of young people to address this crisis. The voices of young people must be elevated both locally and globally to ensure climate justice."
DEUR Julien highlighted the power of collective action in addressing climate challenges: "When people come together to solve a problem, solutions emerge. We must all work together. In the pursuit of climate justice, we must give space to young leadership alongside government efforts."
Nayoka Martinez, stated, “Young people are the architects of the future. They have opened new doors of possibilities for a new Bangladesh. Their strong voices have created an environment of accountability at all levels of society. Young people can teach everyone how to ensure climate justice. They can unite everyone towards a common goal.”
The 14-point demand:
1. Take necessary initiatives to address the climate induced health issues, especially reproductive health problems of marginalized women and adolescent girls and introduce mobile health care service at disaster shelters.
2. Ensure safe drinking water and food security for the most vulnerable people affected by climate change through proper coordination between public and private initiatives.
3. Construction of sustainable dams in coastal areas.
4. Strengthen and provide necessary support to locally led adaptation initiatives under the leadership of young people, and allocate adequate resource and budget
5. Develop skills of young people to deal with negative effects of climate change, revise education curriculum and calendar.
6. Support to enhance livelihood, alternative livelihood, and protect traditional professions, food security through enhancing research and investment.
7. Provide policy support from Government to empower youth to create green economy and circular economy.
8. Create green belt to combat disasters and consider effects of climate change during infrastructural development.
9. Introduce and implement appropriate law and measures to stop plastic pollution.
10. Empower women to combat the negative social impacts caused by climate change such as child marriage, violence against women etc.
11. Make disaster shelters women, children and person with disability friendly. Minimize helplessness of women, children, person with disability, and other marginalized population during climate change related disasters.
12. Enhance youth participation at national, regional, and international policymaking forums to capacitate them to fight climate change.
13. Ensure sustainable rehabilitation of internally displaced families.
14. Making sure of alternative communication channel running during disasters in vulnerable areas.
These demands aim to amplify the voices of young people at the grassroots level and ensure their participation in national and international policymaking processes to address climate crisis.
