Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Md Shahab Uddin has said that the United Nations climate conference (COP 26) in Glasgow did not meet all the expectations, but many long-standing demands of Bangladesh have been met.
“Glasgow-Sharm el Sheikh Work Programme on the Global Goal on Adaptation has been established to set global goals, which will undoubtedly accelerate our future adaptation activities. Member states have been asked to come up with ambitious and strong plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with a view to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius,” he said.
The minister made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a workshop titled 'World Climate Conference (COP 26): Expectations, achievements and Future Action Plans' organized by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change at the Department of Environment on Wednesday afternoon.
The Environment Minister said that in addition to doubling adaptation financing by rich and industrialized countries in tackling climate change in developing countries, emphasis has also been laid on bringing 50:50 equilibrium between adaptation and mitigation financing in various COP-26 decision texts.
“An ad hoc work program for the period 2022-2024 has been set up by the developed countries to set new targets for climate finance and the rich countries have been urged to at least double the amount allocated to the climate fund by 2025,” he said.
The Environment Minister said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a country statement on behalf of Bangladesh by participating in the World Leaders Summit of COP-26.
“The Prime Minister, as the current Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), played a very vital role on behalf of the 48 most endangered states. She also had a bilateral meeting with the First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon. She played an effective and robust role in the discussion on various issues at the conference, including the least developed countries and the countries most at risk due to climate change,” he added.
Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md Mostafa Kamal presided over the workshop.
Deputy Minister Habibun Nahar, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Parliament Member Tanvir Shakil Joy, Chairman of PKSF Dr Kazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmed and Climate Change Specialist and BRAC University Professor Emeritus Dr Ainun Nishat delivered speeches at the event.
Md Ziaul Haque and Mirza Shawkat Ali, two Directors of the Department of Environment presented a keynote paper. Representatives of various government and non-governmental organizations and the media spoke in the open discussion session.
