Environment, Forestry, and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury said that climate justice is crucial in addressing the global climate crisis. He also underscored the significance of international collaboration and solidarity in tackling the complex issues of climate-induced migration and environmental degradation.
Environment minister said this in his speech as a panellist in the panel discussion titled ‘Colonising the future: Climate justice, democracy and migration governance’ of the opening session of the Second Conference of the Environment and Climate Mobilities Network (ECMN) being held Tuesday evening in the city of Liege, Belgium. While elaborating and emphasising the issue of climate justice, Environment Minister cited that Bangladesh is one of the least contributors to global carbon emissions at 0.5%, yet it is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world.
Bangladesh Minister highlighted the steps taken by Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to deal with climate change threats.
He said Climate change is an existential threat for Bangladesh, as it is predicted that 17 percent of coastal area could be submerged by sea level rise by the end of the century and 40 million people could be displaced by a one-meter rise in sea level.
Secretary General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed spoke as a panellist. Moderated by the Belgian political scientist and researcher Francois Gemenne, the panel considered and discussed the keynote presentation made by historian and author David Van Reybrouck. Also among the panellists were Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-president of the Club of Rome and Executive Director of Earth 4All and Katarína Cséfalvayová, Director of the Institute for Central Europe. Bangladesh Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and Head of Mission to the EU, Mahbub Hassan Saleh and other Embassy officials were also present on the occasion.
The panellists highlighted the North-South divide, the need for more meaningful measures in tackling climate change, rebuilding trust and fairer, more democratic and more inclusive international governance.
Bangladesh’s frontline role in COP negotiations, particularly on loss and damage, were appreciated by the panelists. The panellists also spoke about the need for reforming the global financial and governing mechanisms, with Minister Chowdhury stressing that climate change is a litmus test for multilateralism.
