Relocation of climate change victims should be an option
Shahriar Alam says at Berlin conference
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam has demanded climate justice in the form of compensation and financial assistance in addressing the impacts of climate change.
He also called for the countries responsible for producing the most greenhouse gases to triple their nationally determined commitments to limit the rise of global temperature below 2 degree centigrade.
The calls came at the Berlin Climate and Security Conference 2019 on June 4, organised by the German Federal Foreign Office, German think tanks Adelphi and Potsdam Institute of Climate Research, and the German foreign ministry project “Climate Diplomacy”, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Shahriar Alam said migration and relocation of people should be considered as options of adaptation for those displaced by the impacts of climate change. In this regard, he called for a new legally binding global deal as the existing instruments are not adequate and are mostly voluntary.
Bangladesh, with over 160 million people, is one of the countries in the frontline facing severe impacts of climate change. A large part of coastal areas in the country’s southwestern region may go under water with the rise in sea level, according to climate change experts.
Alam said Bangladesh has contributed nothing to global warming but has become one of the worst victims due to irresponsible actions of some developed countries.
As some participants proposed referring climate change and the security nexus to the UN Security Council, Alam called for considering the issue necessarily as a development concern which should be covered by all organs and agencies of the UN.
He demanded true implementation of the Paris Agreement, 2030 Development Agenda (SDGs) and the Sendai Framework and continuation of existing facilities for LDCs after graduation as effective measures to fight climate change.
Foreign and state ministers of Germany, Sweden, Ghana, the Maldives, Malta, Palau, the UK, Cote d’Ivoire, Afghanistan, UN High Commissioner for the Refugees Filippo Grandi, foreign secretaries of different countries attended the conference.