With humanity already struggling to cope with rising seas, more powerful storms, deadly heat waves and rapidly changing ecosystems, the global climate summit opened in Glasgow, UK on October 31 with a series of desperate pleas for action from nations large and small. But the Conference of the Parties (COP26), which will continue till November 12, looks like a historic failure after the world’s biggest polluters snubbed the summit and even rich nations failed to deliver on their promises made at the 2015 Paris climate summit. Although the conference is not yet over, the direction has been set, and the chance for the most decisive action has likely departed with the parting of heads of state or government.
Countries are yet to commit to an agreement that would limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, a threshold identified as crucial by scientists in preventing irreversible damage to the planet. Commitments on emissions cuts made so far might lead to a temperature rise of 1.8 degrees Celsius, experts said according to BBC News. The Paris climate summit saw nations, including the US and Germany, pledge donations of $100 billion per year to poorer countries to help tackle climate change. Unfortunately that pledge still remains unfulfilled. Even the summit’s most enthusiastic proponent and host UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday was only “cautious optimistic” that change would come.
US President Joe Biden has said climate is “a gigantic issue” and China “walked away” — adding it was the “same thing with Russia and Putin”. This, he said, would be the “decisive decade” in which to prove that the goal of limiting global warming to just 1.5 degrees Celsius could be met. Scientists more or less agree that one of the main reasons for climate change is the use of fossil fuel, which remains on an upward trend. As a result, a huge number of people across the world, including Bangladesh, is being displaced and losing employment due to various natural calamities, like excessive rain, floods, fires, drought and rise in sea level. A vast portion of Bangladesh’s coastal belt may go under sea if such a trend continues, fear scientists. About the plan for green economy, we stand for the development of renewable energy and environment friendly development instead of use of fossil fuel. But even if Bangladesh stops its fossil fuel emission at once, the problem will remain at the same extent. So, global initiatives should be taken to save the planet as it is a global problem.
