BSS :
Terming the climate change, pandemic and destruction of nature as the common threats, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged global leaders, businesses and G20 to work unitedly to get a common solution-a cleaner, greener, safer world.
Reiterating the steps for reducing global carbon emissions, she also called upon the world leaders to “turn pledges into action” to stave off the dire consequences of climate change.
“Climate change is a very different foe from those we faced, but dealing with it requires a great deal of fortitude, imagination, hope and leadership,” the PM said in her recent article published in the Financial Times, one of the world’s most esteemed newspapers in London, although it was purchased by Japan’s Nikkei Inc. in 2015. She said: “In Bangla as we say: ‘Bhabia korio kaj, koria bhabio na’ (think before you do, don’t regret after you’re done) — We shouldn’t do anything that cannot be reversed.”
Focusing on Bangladesh’s efforts in the fight against climate change affects, the Bangladesh premier categorically called upon the global leaders to join her in fixing the global problem that “requires a great deal of fortitude, imagination, hope and leadership”.
“If western leaders listen, engage and act decisively on what science demands of them, there is still time to make COP26 the success it desperately needs to be,” she mentioned in an article.
In the article, “We need a global ‘climate prosperity plan’ not empty pledges”, Hasina slammed the developed nations for not taking seriously the needs of those countries most immediately affected by climate change.
“As the current president of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, Bangladesh is seeking more support from the international community and the G20 for increased finance and access to technology to speed adaptation for those countries most at risk,” the article reads.
In that group, Bangladesh is one of the best prepared for extreme weather.”We are building sea walls, planting mangrove forests, embedding resilience in all governmental work,” she said.
“But we cannot walk this journey alone. Sixty-four countries and the EU have this week signed the Pledge for Nature to respond to the planetary emergency. They represent around 1.4bn people and one-quarter of global gross domestic product. From there, we need to build common political will at domestic and global level,” the article reads.
As hosts of the next COP, G7 and G20 meetings, the UK and Italy must drive this agenda, which requires a comprehensive support package for hardest hit nations, Hasina suggested.
“You may believe your bottom line is quarterly results. But our common bottom line is far more important: if nature is degraded to the extent it cannot protect us, we will all suffer. What happens in Bangladesh affects stocks in London and New York,” the PM wrote.
Showcasing on Bangladesh issue, Sheikh Hasina said, “Bangladesh was born 50 years ago this year, a birth shrouded in blood and pain. My father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, inspired and led our independence struggle. It is in his memory that we have named our climate prosperity plan the Mujib Plan.”
“The inconvenient truth of our times is that while action on climate change has never been more urgent and achievable, governments are not cutting emissions fast enough to keep nations such as mine safe,” she wrote.
