Climate change is the most important issue facing Bangladesh.
With the homes and livelihoods of millions of people being threatened by rising water levels permanently inundating entire districts, it is vital that the Global Goals on Sustainable Development, adopted by world leaders at the UN this week, fulfills its aim of fixing climate change by 2030.
For Bangladesh to successfully adapt to climate change, we urgently need the whole world to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.
We agree with the head of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, that the best way to do this is by taxing fossil fuels to reduce emissions and create funds for investment in renewable alternatives.
Prominent economists are right to call for an end to the nearly $1tn spent each year subsidising fossil fuels, and to move towards global taxes on greenhouse-emitting fuels.
The World Bank estimates that, in low and middle-income countries, the richest fifth of the population uses up six times as much of these subsides as the poorest 20%. This is an unjust and illogical way to spend tax-payer funds. Not only does it increase greenhouse emissions, but it encourages wasteful consumption of finite resources, and burns tax-payer money which could be better spent on education and development.
The prime minister should use her global standing as leader of a nation on the front-line of climate change and as a recipient of UNEP’s Champion of the Earth award, to press for rich countries to do more to reduce carbon emissions, and support Bangladesh in adapting to climate change.
Without a world-wide approach to taxing carbon and incentivising large industrialised nations to reduce emissions, policy changes in Bangladesh will not be enough to avert catastrophe.
Our government must not only do more to rationalise our own energy pricing policies, but take a stronger lead in calling on the world to get its act together.