The recent appointment of Saber Hossain Chowdhury as the Special Envoy to the Prime Minister for Climate Change is the perfect call and shows just how importantly the administration is taking climate change as an issue.
As the chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Saber Hossain has shown the necessary drive towards mitigating the effects of climate change, especially through his work in championing loss and damage for Bangladesh. That he would not be drawing a salary or any forms of allowance from this position further cements his commitment.
As one of the nations on the front lines of climate change, Bangladesh has everything to lose unless national and global actions are taken to rectify the damage that has been dealt to our planet, especially by Western nations that industrialized far too vigourously early on and never stopped doing so.
While Bangladesh has made admirable progress in recognizing the threat of climate change and taking the appropriate steps to address it from our end -- such as the formulation of the Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan -- at the end of the day, the onus of paying the price for climate change lies on developed nations.
As a seasoned politician, Hossain stands as the perfect candidate to have Bangladesh lead the charge from the front in the fight against climate change -- his work towards loss and damage has most definitely established our nation's position.
As one of the nations most vulnerable to climate change, Bangladesh is in an unenviable position as a developing economy, and yet that has not stopped us from making a commitment towards ending climate change once and for all. From making the right policies to placing the right people, the developed world stands to learn a few lessons from us.