Dhaka seeks international support for addressing climate change
Bangladesh Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ismat Jahan has urged the international community to support Bangladesh in addressing climate change.
She made the call on Monday while addressing the Economic and Financial Committee of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on the agenda titled 'protection of global climate for present and future generations of mankind.'
Ambassador Ismat Jahan said the phenomenon of climate change was no longer a conjecture, and many countries, including Bangladesh, were encountering weather patterns such as devastating floods, cyclones, droughts and storm surges.
“The climate change is impeding the efforts of the least developed countries in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.”
She expressed the concern that an irreversible climatic shift would displace millions of people worldwide. “A one meter sea-level rise will submerge about one-third of the total area of Bangladesh, which will uproot 25-30 million people. These people will become refugees of climate change.”
She called upon all countries to recognise their responsibilities towards the refugees of climate change and stressed that the post-Kyoto regime should grant the legal rights required to provide for their recovery and rehabilitation.
She also expressed concern over the lack of urgency in tackling greenhouse gas emissions during most of the past two decades. She underscored that an effective response to climate change challenges required striking a balance between mitigation and adaptation.
Ismat Jahan urged all major greenhouse gas emitters to significantly reduce the emissions to stabilise the atmosphere.
She said the clean development mechanism was not reaching to all developing countries equally, especially to the least developed countries (LDCs).
The existing climate related framework had failed to secure resources required to finance the adaptation deficit, she said, adding that the resource pool - such as the LDC Fund and the Special Climate Change Fund - remained perennially inadequate.
She underscored the importance of reversing these shortcomings to ensure adequate fund for adaptation needs of the least developed countries and called for effective operationalisation of the Special Climate Change Fund under the Kyoto Protocol.
Ambassador Ismat Jahan invited the developed countries to make commitment on the transfer of environment-friendly technologies at preferential term to LDCs.
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