Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon the world to share the responsibility of the people displaced due to climate change. She said that 60 lac people in Bangladesh have already been displaced by the climate crisis. We are now also responsible for an additional 11 lac Rohingyas. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult to deal with this problem.
The prime minister made the remarks in a speech at the Scottish Parliament at 8:30 pm local time on Tuesday (2 November).
On the same evening in Glasgow, at the UN Climate Conference COP-26’s ‘Forging a CVF-COP-26 Climate Emergency Pact’, the Prime Minister said it was sad and disappointing that developed countries failed to meet their commitments to climate finance and reduce carbon emissions. She called on the major carbon-emitting developed countries to plan to provide 500 billion dollars to the affected countries in the five years from 2020 to 2024.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also held a bilateral meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The meeting took place in the UK meeting room of the COP-26 conference. The two Prime Ministers discussed various bilateral and multilateral issues during the meeting. Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held a meeting with Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne. They also discussed bilateral and multilateral issues at the meeting.
On arrival at the Scottish Parliament, Speaker Alison Johnstone welcomed the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. The Prime Minister was accompanied by Bangabandhu’s youngest daughter Sheikh Rehana and CVF Ambassador Saima Wazed Hossain. The first Bangladeshi member of the Scottish Parliament Faisal Chowdhury was present at the time.
Speaking on the occasion of ‘Call for Climate Prosperity’ organized by the Scottish Parliament on the occasion of World Climate Conference, Sheikh Hasina said that the responsibility of global migrants displaced by climate change due to rising sea level, river erosion, salinity increase, floods, and droughts must be shared by everyone. The issue of loss must be resolved properly.
Sheikh Hasina, President of Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and Vulnerable 20 (V20), an alliance of countries at risk due to climate change, said in her speech that effective and adequate climate finance can be the key to prosperity. She made some recommendations for the successful implementation of MCPP (Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan).
Calling on the affected countries to submit plans for climate financing, the Prime Minister said, ‘We, the CVF members, are demanding 500 billion dollars over five full years from 2020 to 2024 from these developed countries. Money must be provided for adaptation and mitigation equally.’
Noting that the affected countries do not have sufficient capacity to deal with the devastating effects of climate change, CVF President Sheikh Hasina said that an effective action plan is not possible without adequate, sustainable, and easy climate financing. ‘CVF member countries are the most affected by the adverse effects of climate change,’ she said. ‘This is happening even though we have no historical role or responsibility for this crisis.’
