Its time to follow through on Glasgow Climate Pact: PM

At no other point in human history has a cause proved more urgent than tackling climate change; never has there been more at stake for us on this planet we call home, and for every species we share it with. However, rousing speeches and inspiring language are but hollow sentiments now – just empty rhetoric and fine-spun nothings in the absence of the robust action that scientists have long been urging.

For the people of Sylhet in Bangladesh, facing the worst floods in a century, words aren’t close to enough. Words didn’t prevent flash floods from carrying away their homes, destroying their livelihoods, killing their loved ones. And tweets of support or small aid packages aren’t nearly enough for the 33 million affected by the floods in Pakistan last month.

Instead, what I am calling for today is action – action to fulfill the promises made last year at COP26, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, to assist nations like mine in facing the harshest realities of a warming planet. And as world leaders prepare to gather once again, this time Sharm El-Sheikh, I call upon my esteemed colleagues to find the means to honor the commitments they made, and to at least double the provisions for adaptation as well as finance by 2025.

Studies show that our GDP is expected to be significantly reduced due to human-caused warming, and average income is projected to be 90 percent lower in 2100 than it would have otherwise been. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report projects that Bangladesh will experience a net increase in poverty of approximately 15 percent by 2030 due to climate change.

It would be easy to become despondent when faced with such bleak forecasts, when the call for urgent action is going unheard by many and progress is so slow. It would be much easier to succumb to the paralysis of anxiety – but we must resist.

And in Bangladesh, we’re doing just that.

In the face of such grave threats, we have so far been able to achieve relatively resilient and consistent growth. We have also unveiled the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan in order to deal with matters of climate change, from decarbonizing our energy network to green investment initiatives – both now and in the future – all in a bid to shift our trajectory from vulnerability to resilience and, in turn, to prosperity.

We were the first among developing countries to adopt a comprehensive Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan back in 2009. So far, we have allocated $480 million to implement various adaptation and mitigation programs.

Currently, we’re also implementing a housing project for climate refugees in our coastal district of Cox’s Bazar, aiming to construct 139 multistory buildings to shelter about 5,000 climate refugee families. And during my 18 years of premiership, my government has given homes to about 3.5 million individuals to date.

Meanwhile, we’ve adopted the “Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100,” which aims to shape a safe, climate-resilient and prosperous delta. And every year, my party plants millions of saplings to increase our country’s tree coverage as well.

As the former chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and the V20, Bangladesh continues to focus on promoting the interests of climate vulnerable countries. It isn’t enough to just survive; we intend to succeed, to be a global leader, to show our neighbors and the world that there’s still a path to a hopeful future – but we cannot do this alone.