Economy
COP27: BD to reiterate for $100b pledged for developing nations
Global leaders are progressing for the COP27 next month, November — to take action towards achieving collective climate goals set under Paris Agreement and the Convention.
The 27th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or ‘COP27’, will build on the outcomes of COP26 to deliver action on an array of issues critical to tackling the climate emergency.
These actions are: urgently reducing greenhouse gas emissions, building resilience and adapting to the inevitable impacts of climate change, and delivering on the commitments to finance climate action in developing countries.
Bangladesh will reiterate its call to materialize the pledge of providing $100 billion funds per year to developing nations at the most prior, authorities stated.
Bangladesh will also highlight the importance of “enhanced funds” for climate change mitigation and adaptation at the conference that will take place from November 6 to 18 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Nations are expected to demonstrate at COP27 that they are in a new era of implementation by turning their commitments under the Paris Agreement into action.
Heads of state and governments will attend the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit on November 7 and 8 while a high-level segment primarily attended by ministers will take place from November 15-18.
The Vulnerable 20 (V20) and Group of 7 (G7) will jointly launch the Global Shield Against Climate Risks at COP27 in a wider effort to accelerate pre-arranged financing at speed and scale.
The V20 membership stands at 58 economies representing some 1.5 billion people including Bangladesh.
The Vulnerable 20 Group of Finance Ministers from climate-vulnerable economies and the G7 Presidency have already revealed they have reached an agreement on financial protection cooperation that responds to loss and damage as a contribution to the Paris Climate Treaty.
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has called for the implementation of climate financing pledges commensurate with the principles of loss and damage ahead of the climate conference going to take place in Sharm El Sheikh next month.
State Minister for Planning Dr. Shamsul Alam has said Bangladesh firmly believes that climate change is a security issue and it must be discussed at regular intervals at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Bangladesh has been a significant player in global climate diplomacy and during the presidency of CVF, Bangladesh emerged as a bold voice in the climate change negotiations under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Bangladesh has launched the “Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan” with the aim to put her on a journey from climate vulnerability to resilience to climate prosperity. The government sees it as one of the landmark policy guidelines for climate-vulnerable countries.
As government representatives start to finalize the agenda for the COP27 climate change conference in Egypt next month, the UN chief told journalists in New York that the work ahead is “as immense as the climate impacts we are seeing around the world”.
“At COP27, I will launch an action plan to provide early warning systems for all within five years,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. He seeks the governments, international financial institutions and civil society to support it.
“We came out of Paris, COP21, with a historic agreement which set out a framework of what needs to be done, and then in Glasgow previous year, an agreement on how to do it,” said Simon Stiell, the sixth Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) or UN Climate Change.
2022 marks seven years since the adoption of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change – a landmark international treaty to tackle the climate crisis.
The agreement calls for limiting global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. To get there, the world needs to halve its carbon emissions by 2030.
At least 20 Umrah pilgrims were killed and 29 injured in a horrific bus crash southwest of Saudi Arabia, according to Gulf News reports.
The passenger bus crashed into a bridge on Monday, overturned, and caught fire, killing 20 and injuring 29.
According to Saudi media, the accident occurred around 4pm on the 14 km-long Aqabat Shaar road in the Asir province, as the bus was traveling from Khamis Mushayt to Abha.
The road, according to Saudi Press Agency, cuts through mountains, and has 11 tunnels and 32 bridges. When the bus was making its way down a bridge it underwent a brake failure, which caused it to crash into a barrier at the end of the bridge, overturn and catch fire. About 29 other people were also injured in the accident, according to reports.
The Saudi civil defense and Red Crescent Authority teams rushed to the site of the accident and cordoned off the area.
The deceased and the injured have reportedly been transferred to nearby hospitals.
Greeting Bangladesh, the United Nations on Sunday (26th March) said Bangladesh has many accomplishments — extraordinary economic development, a significant cultural legacy, leadership on a global stage for climate-vulnerable countries, and immense generosity in welcoming and hosting nearly a million Rohingya refugees.
“The hospitality of Bangladesh’s diverse people is just one of the many facets of a country that my colleagues and I have been fortunate to experience every day,” UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis said in a press statement on the occasion of the country’s Independence Day.
“On behalf of the United Nations, I warmly congratulate the people of Bangladesh on the 52nd anniversary of independence,” she said.
Over the last 52 years, Bangladesh has made impressive and remarkable achievements: evolving from a war-torn country to one of the leading economic powers in South Asia, standing at the threshold of upcoming graduation from least developed countries (LDCs) in 2026, and planned achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDG) by 2030, she said.
The UN fully supports Bangladesh’s commitments to economic and sustainable development and appreciates the strong and long-lasting relationship with Bangladesh and our shared values.
The constitution of the country, which was adopted even before Bangladesh had formally become a member of the United Nations in 1974, guarantees fundamental human rights. The right to freedom of speech, religion, movement and assembly, the right to speak one’s own language and other rights that are in line with the UN charter, said the UNRC.
“Wishing you all a Happy Independence Day!” — she concluded.
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina & President M Abdul Hamid paid rich tributes to the Liberation War martyrs by placing wreaths at the National Memorial at Savar on the outskirts of Dhaka early on Sunday (26th March), marking the 53rd Independence and National Day.
The president first placed the wreath at the altar of the memorial followed by the prime minister.
After laying the wreaths, the president and the premier stood in solemn silence for some time as a mark of profound respect for the memories of the martyrs of the Great War of Liberation in 1971.
A smartly turned-out contingent drawn from Bangladesh Army, Navy and Air Force presented a state salute at that time while the bugles played the last post.
The head of the state and the head of the government also signed the visitors’ book kept on the memorial premises.
Flanked by her party leaders, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the Awami League, paid glowing tributes to the Liberation War martyrs by placing another wreath at the National Memorial on behalf of her party.
Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, senior AL leaders, leaders of AL-led 14-party alliance and high civil and military officials, among others, were present there.
Later, the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) speaker and the chief justice also paid homage to the martyrs by placing wreaths at the National Mausoleum.
Every year, March 26 brings the most tragic reminiscence of history’s blackest episode that heralded a nine-month bloody ordeal from the night of March 25, 1971, achieving the long-cherished independence on December 16 the same year at the cost of a sea of blood.
In the wake of the military crackdown by the then Pakistan occupation force, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman proclaimed the independence of Bangladesh through the then EPR (East Pakistan Rifles) wireless at 00-30 hours on March 26 (the night following March 25) in 1971 at his historic Road-32 residence at Dhanmondi in Dhaka.
The day is very auspicious and precious to the Bengali nation.
