Bangladesh stresses urgency of climate justice in global conference in Belgium

Environment Minister Saber stressed the urgency of climate justice and global collaboration at the Environment and Climate Mobilities Network (ECMN) conference being held in Belgium.

Climate justice is crucial in addressing the global climate crisis, he said, underscoring the significance of international collaboration and solidarity in tackling the complex issues of climate-induced migration and environmental degradation.

The environment minister made the remarks in his speech as a panelist in the panel discussion titled ‘Colonizing the future: Climate justice, democracy and migration governance’ of the opening session of the Second Conference of the Environment and Climate Mobilities Network (ECMN) on Tuesday evening in the city of Liege, Belgium.

While elaborating and emphasising the issue of climate justice, the minister stated that Bangladesh is one of the least contributors to global carbon emissions at 0.5 per cent, yet it is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world.

He highlighted the steps taken by Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to deal with climate change threats.

Climate change is an existential threat for Bangladesh as it is predicted that 17 per cent of coastal area could be submerged by sea level rise by the end of the century and 40 million people could be displaced by a one-meter rise in sea level, the minister said. 

Secretary General of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and former President of the Maldives Mohamed Nasheed spoke as a panelist.

Moderated by the Belgian political scientist and researcher Francois Gemenne, the panel considered and discussed the keynote presentation made by historian and author David Van Reybrouck.

Also among the panelists were Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-president of the Club of Rome and Executive Director of Earth 4All and Katarína Cséfalvayová, Director of the Institute for Central Europe.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and Head of Mission to the EU, Mahbub Hassan Saleh and other Embassy officials were also present on the occasion.

The panelists highlighted the North-South divide, the need for more meaningful measures in tackling climate change, rebuilding trust, and a fairer, more democratic, and inclusive international governance. 

Bangladesh’s frontline role in COP negotiations, particularly on loss and damage, was appreciated by the panelists.

The panelists also spoke about the need for reforming the global financial and governing mechanisms, with minister Chowdhury stressing that climate change is a litmus test for multilateralism.

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