‘China will lead fight against climate change if US falters’

It is well established that Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable nations, if not the most vulnerable, in terms of affected people. So when you say Bangladesh faces climate change risks, are you proposing to add more to this discourse? How?Yes, there is a feeling across the world that Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries. And also the people of Bangladesh are victims of climate change. But what is lacking in understanding is that Bangladesh is already acting to adopt to the situation and to get involved with mitigation. The scientists of the country are very intelligent and they are active to maintain international lobby to stop emitting carbon dioxide, and also take part in the discourse on which rich nations are taking their responsibility. When you go to the villages, the people may not know about climate change but they are well-aware of the climate variability. Therefore they are changing their cropping patterns and so on.How would you say Bangladesh is unique among the countries affected by climate change?Bangladesh is a unique in terms of a number of events. First of all, it is really a large country which is almost largely affected. It’s based on a delta, it’s low-lying, close to the Himalayas which is changing dramatically. River flows in monsoon and the dry period is also changing. Second thing is, Bangladesh is the largest among the Least Developed Countries. It is an example for the other small vulnerable nations for adopting with the changing patterns of climate.In your opinion, could Bangladesh deal with this impending catastrophe on its own? With its own resources? Or would you say an international collaboration is imperative whether in terms of adaptation technology or mitigation in the industrialised nations?Nobody can handle this alone. Climate change requires global action. In terms of finance, Bangladesh has already spent a lot of money on its own to tackle the impacts. Most of the money it has spent came from the government and the people. But in the future, it needs resources from developed countries who caused the global warming.The Paris agreement allows a temperature rise of 2 degrees that would be catastrophic for many countries. Why is it still being celebrated around the world?There was a Euphoria about Paris. Unfortunately, the celebration is because it was not a failure. There was a great worry that Paris will be like Copenhagen and would not be an agreement. So there was a great breakthrough in that there was an agreement. But the Paris Agreement is not enough because this agreement does not stop the carbon from emitting quickly. But it gives us a base to talk further.What do you think about the position of US President Donald Trump against climate change? Do you think the future of climate change discussion is uncertain?We have to realise one thing about Trump. He said that climate change is a hoax. He also said separately that it might exist. He will tell you anything. The US is the global leader in many things. If it does not take leadership in climate change, then China will. And China will take over the world more quickly because of what Trump is doing. If he says climate change is a hoax, then I will be voting for China being more powerful. I will look to China having more of a voice in international affairs than they have had in the past. The US, if it fails on this, will be failing.