Hasan demands extra WCF allocation to recoup disaster losses, Dr. Hasan Mahmud, the minister of information and broadcasting, has asked specific funding from the World Climate Fund (WCF) to offset the billions of dollars in water-related losses Bangladesh has suffered as a result of climate change-related calamities. The minister was speaking on Friday night at the Bangladesh pavilion in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, during a WaterAid-organized side event of the ongoing COP-27 titled “Highlighting Loss and Damage to Water and Sanitation Infrastructures due to Climate Hazards in Bangladesh.”
Hasan demands extra WCF allocation to recoup disaster losses
He claimed that initially, many people were reluctant to acknowledge the significant harm that natural catastrophes had caused to water and sanitation systems. But according to Hasan, who is also the joint general secretary of the Awami League (AL), the degree of the devastation in many climate-vulnerable nations, including Bangladesh, is significant.
According to him, financing should be distributed independently by establishing various sectors to cover and reduce these losses. He described the presence of world leaders, including as US Vice President Joe Biden, to COP-27 as a sign of optimism. He also expressed his apprehension over the climate fund due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The minister said immediate initiatives should be taken to stop the Russia-Ukraine war to save the world.
Hasan, an environmentalist, emphasized several effects of climate change on Bangladesh’s water and sanitation systems. He added that these effects included the rise in sea level and temperature, unusually high levels of precipitation, an increase in drought, saltwater intrusion into coastal areas, eroding river banks, the frequency of cyclones and floods, and damage from flash floods in urban areas.
The other speakers at the event have emphasized the cyclones’ financial harm during the previous 15 years. They highlighted additional damages brought on by floods at various points in history, citing 2.31 billion dollars in Sidr damage in 2007, 1 billion dollars in Ayla damage in 2009, 127 million dollars in Roanu damage in 2016, 63.6 million dollars in Fani damage in 2019, 13 million dollars in Amphan damage in 2020, and seven lakh dollars in Yas damage in 2021.
Environmentalist Selim Ul Haque, climate change expert Collin McQuistan, researcher Md Shams-ud-Doha, WaterAid Bangladesh chapter director Partho Hafez Shaikh and senior advocacy officer Adnan Kader, among others, addressed the session as WaterAid Bangladesh country director Hasin Jahan conducted it.