Climate Justice Alliance, an alliance consisting of the country’s 33 domestic and global civil society organizations, demanded a decisive decision at the upcoming Conference of Parties 28 (COP 28) to phase out fossil fuels to limit global warming at 1.5 degrees.
The alliance, led by Center for Participatory Research and Development (CPRD), also demanded a clear definition of climate finance at COP 28, and the climate finances must be recognized and mobilized as need-based, urgent, and an obligatory complement, not a voluntary contribution.
They were speaking at a Round table discussion titled “COP 28: Articulating CSOs Position Together”, organized by the CPRD-led alliance in the capital on Saturday.
Shamsuddoha, chief executive of the CPRD said in his keynote that the COP 28 must review the Transitional Committee Co-chairs’ proposal on the institutional and governance arrangements of loss and damage fund to ensure their alignment with the convention’s CBDR-RC principle.
“We urge to discard the elements that contradict the convention’s overarching principle and are subversive to climate justice; A sovereign governance structure of the L&D fund under the UNFCCC with flexible norms, operational guidelines, and access modalities for the LDCs, SIDS, and climate-vulnerable countries,” he added.
He also said the GGA must focus on the human and social dimensions of climate change impacts on people, livelihoods, and ecosystems.
In his speech, Barrister Shamim Haider Patwary MP, said that Bangladesh always regrets its achievement in the climate negotiations.
“We should not forget that without having a specific strategy towards the COPs, we cannot achieve something significant from the negotiations,” he added, saying that the CSOs position paper will surely contribute to the negotiation.
He also said that there are gaps in adaptation, mitigation, and finance but the greatest gap is in mutual trust.
Bangladesh was a leading country to propose the 1.5 degrees celcius target in the climate negotiation, and it also played a momentous role in creating public support in its favor.
“We are already experiencing the climatic effects with the globe warmed by 1.2 degrees Celsius from the pre-industrial level,” he added.
He further also said that they have almost reached the hard limit of adaptation.
Fazle Rabbi Sadeque Ahmed said that the CSOs have very important responsibilities to play to achieve climate justice for climate change vulnerable people.
“I appreciate the proposed recommendations, and government delegates should read carefully all recommendations that come from different platforms,” he added.
Dharitri Kumar Sarkar, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said that the rapidly increasing financial demands required to address the climate change-induced challenges, but there remains a substantial gap in establishing adequate climate finances for adaptation measures.
He also said that though the developed world acknowledges climate change, they are not still admitting the impacts properly, which is clearly a double standard position.
The speakers also said that as compensation for loss and damage, Bangladesh needs unconditional grants from the polluters, not loans.
Khodeja Sultana Lopa, country director of Diakonia, Bangladesh, Hasin Jahan, country director of WaterAid Bangladesh, and others also spoke at the event.
