Bangladesh will call on governments to establish a loss-and-damage fund for developing countries and implement climate financing pledges during the upcoming 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt.
The country will also reiterate its call for a materialisation of the pledge of providing $100 billion funds annually to developing countries at the earliest, officials involved in the process have said.
During COP26, the Glasgow Sharm el-Sheikh work program was launched to enhance the implementation of adaptation actions in developing countries particularly vulnerable to climate change. Bangladesh hopes that a global goal or target will be set at COP-28 for adaptation in light of the decisions taken under the Paris Agreement.
COP27 is scheduled to be held from November 6 to 18 at Sharm El Sheikh International Convention Centre (SHICC) in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
Heads of states and governments will also attend the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Implementation Summit on November 7 and 8, while a high-level segment primarily attended by ministers will take place from November 15-18.
The annual conference aims to build on previous successes and pave the way for further action to effectively tackle the global challenge of climate change.
More than 45,000 registered COP27 participants representing the UN and regional organizations, businesses, the scientific community, indigenous and local communities, and civil society are expected to join and jointly enhance and accelerate the implementation of climate action and follow up on our collective commitments and pledges.
“We will push for matters relating to funding arrangements for addressing losses and damage. We are aware that the loss and damage agenda item is very important for a country like ours. However, there is no specific financing system for this loss and damage,” said Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin.
Bangladesh will try to establish a separate fund for loss and damage through negotiations, said the minister.
The country will also push on matters relating to the work program for urgently scaling up mitigation actions.
“Under this work program, the future course of action on how to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees will be determined,” he said.
Bangladesh will also highlight the need for the immediate release of $100 billion a year in funding to help developing countries tackle climate change impacts.
In Paris, developed countries promised to deliver $100 billion a year in funding to help developing countries tackle climate change impacts from 2020, but in COP26 they said they will not meet that goal until 2023.
“We will also discuss the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) agenda item for more funding in the years after 2025, to be decided at 2024 or COP 29,” added the minister.
Climate expert and Professor Emeritus of Brac University Ainun Nishat said COP27 is very important for Bangladesh.
“This is the first time that water systems, food crisis, and the greenhouse effect will be discussed. These things are very important for Bangladesh,” he added.
“I think Bangladesh should give priority to financing in this conference. Then on mitigation of the greenhouse effect and also on adaptation,” the professor further said.
