Bangladesh
Climate Change Rich countries must shoulder the burden of climate change, says AK Abdul Momen
Dhaka, November 12: The history of environmental pollution in rich countries is very deep rooted. Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has demanded that developing countries must be provided more financial assistance to keep pace with such activities. He also said that the level of promise made so far in the much-anticipated COP26 conference was not satisfactory.
Dr. Momen is on a tour of Europe as a member of the Bangladeshi delegation to the UN Climate Conference. He is in talks with representatives of various countries and organizations for a possible climate deal there.
In an interview with Chinese media CGTN on Wednesday (November 10), the Bangladeshi foreign minister said, "World leaders still have time to move forward. However, we are not very optimistic about this."
Momen said: "We hoped that the world leadership might promise to limit the rise in temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius, with a roadmap on how to achieve the target. Sadly, that did not happen. Another big problem is the lack of funds."
"Under the Paris Climate Agreement, developing countries have asked the rich to allocate USD 100 billion annually this year," he said. "But it is being delayed. They [rich countries] are saying that it may start from 2023. That is not acceptable at all."
At the same time, the Foreign Minister emphasized that in order for the poorer nations to move towards more renewable energy, the developed nations must move forward with "technology transfer" and "concessional financing".
Natural disasters such as rising sea levels, cyclones, droughts and floods pose a major threat to Bangladesh. It is feared that by 2050, one in seven people in Bangladesh will be displaced by the effects of climate change.
Bangladesh is the current president of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), an alliance of 55 countries at risk of climate change. The CVF has been constantly demanding more funding from rich countries to deal with such crises.
