Bangladesh calls for equitable climate solutions, global support to build resilience

Adviser on Environment, Forests, Climate Change and Water Resources, Syeda Rizwana Hasan highlighted the role of youth, saying that youth in Bangladesh have always been powerful agents of change as history shows, and called for equitable solutions to climate change and support globally to enhance Bangladesh’s resilience.

She highlighted the government’s commitment to further engage youth in climate action and urged all developed countries to meet their commitments to climate finance and technology support for countries on the front lines of climate vulnerability.

The EU Delegation to Bangladesh and the Swedish Embassy in Dhaka co-organized a roundtable on “Youth as agents of change”.

The aims were to discuss the role of youth in addressing climate change ahead of this year’s international summit, COP29, and to highlight how young leaders can influence policy and action in Bangladesh and abroad.

EU Ambassador Michael Miller and Swedish Ambassador Nicolas Weeks together with Italian Ambassador Antonio Alessandro and representatives of EU Member States Germany, France, Denmark and the Netherlands provided a platform for an open and equal dialogue with 18 youth representatives from different organizations, each actively involved in the COP process.

The central theme throughout the dialogue was that climate change mitigation and adaptation must go hand in hand.

All parties need to make greater efforts to integrate and mainstream climate change adaptation and resilience into relevant existing policies, strategies and actions, they said.

“The EU calls for an ambitious and balanced COP29 outcome that keeps the 1.5°C temperature target within reach, in light of the best available science, moves us all towards long-term resilience and includes agreement on an effective, achievable and achievable goal. new collectively ambitious quantified target,” said EU Ambassador Miller, who also stressed the importance of meeting the COP28 outcomes in Dubai.

At COP29, the EU will continue to emphasize the importance of stepping up mitigation ambition and implementation in this critical decade. This is the only way we can achieve the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C. If we do not achieve this goal, the consequences will be dire for climate and disaster-vulnerable countries like Bangladesh, Swedish Ambassador Weeks added.

“Financing from the Global North should not impede the right to development for any country, including the country that will finance. At the same time, the right to development should reach the most vulnerable,” said Farzana Faruk Jhumu, UNICEF Youth Advocate. Bangladesh.

“We, the youth, want to ensure climate justice for Bangladesh and the world. We need to be integrated into government processes, especially NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions), in a more formalized way. The government needs to provide youth with avenues to become well-informed so that youth can contribute more meaningfully,” said youth climate activist Amanullah Porag, who founded and leads the Youth4NDCs initiative.

The event brought together civil society, academia, Team Europe partners and youth climate leaders, as well as representatives of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Ministry of Water Resources.

The EU and its member states are the major financiers of climate adaptation.

Their climate partnerships are rooted in the belief that all parties should protect, respect and promote human rights; the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; and the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children and youth, older people, people with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations.

These partnerships also emphasize gender equality, the empowerment of women and girls, and intergenerational equity.

Through the EU-Bangladesh partnership, the EU supports the reform ambitions of the interim government and its efforts to empower young people for climate action.