The world has been struggling against three “V”s or vulnerabilities to climate change, corruption and conflicts (four “C”s). However, before exhausting hope at the end of the tunnel, the world community have stood up and built the broad based global architecture in 2015 to protect the planet earth and its inhabitants. With the alarming progression of the climate risks, the …

Assessing the GCF’s performance on funding adaptation for the most vulnerable countries By the end of this year, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) — the main international fund designated to help countries address climate change — will have been active for six years. At this point, it would be a good time to reflect back and evaluate the progress of …

If we are going to tackle climate change, the world will have to work together As the COP22 winds down in Marrakesh, one of the low key but extremely important decisions made was setting up the Paris Committee on Capacity Building (PCCB). The committee will have the role of carrying out Article 11 of the Paris Agreement which is on …

The Paris Agreement to tackle climate change which was achieved at the 21st Conference of Parties in Paris, France last December has been ratified by well over fifty-five countries accounting for over 55% of global emissions (the two thresholds that need to be achieved for the agreement to go into force as international law). It thus went into force on …

The historic Paris Agreement adopted in 2015 entered into force yesterday and is now legally binding. The agreement represents an immense triumph for global diplomacy, since it was ratified by 92 countries in less than a year’s time, including some of the world’s biggest emitters such as China, India, and the US. The Agreement has been hailed “historic” as it …

Earlier this month, the fifth Asia Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum was held in Colombo, Sir Lanka. This year’s theme was “Adapting and Living below 2C.” This is because the UN climate treaty — the Paris Agreement, which goes into force next week — set a upper temperature limit of 2C warming above pre-industrial temperatures. Given that Bangladesh is a …

(Originally published here) Bangladesh is about to lose $50 million (about Tk400 crore) of climate funds because of tension between the World Bank and donors, and a lack of commitment on the government’s part. Even as the government is grappling to find funds for dealing with the climate change impacts, the donors have decided to pull the plug on Bangladesh …

(Originally published here) Climate change poses a serious threat to the environment and people around the world. The Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that, without adequate adaptation and mitigation measures, the world is likely to face severe and irreversible impacts of climate change in the form of extreme weather events, loss of …

(Originally published here) Money for fighting climate change was in focus at the closing session of Gobeshona – an annual Conference for Research on Climate Change in Bangladesh. The conference provided the opportunity for international and multi-stakeholder participants to engage with a wide range of Bangladesh-specific climate change research. John Timmons Roberts, Ittleson Professor of Sociology and Environmental Studies at …

(Originally published on Dhaka Tribune here) As a developing country and member of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, Bangladesh is used to receiving development assistance from rich countries since our independence over four decades ago. This development assistance is received under what is commonly called Official Development Assistance (ODA). This has amounted to the tune of several billion dollars …