A simple $5 loss and damage aviation levy could be imposed on every passenger flying on any of the airlines under the jurisdiction of the UAE. There are only a hundred days left until the start of COP28 in Dubai, set to be held on November 30, and already the world has crossed the critical threshold into what I call …
What our new climate envoy can do for Bangladesh
Last month the PM Sheikh Hasina appointed Saber Hossain Chowdhury, member of parliament, as her climate envoy. This is excellent news as many countries have climate envoys and Bangladesh could really use one too. Climate change has become a part of daily life and climate-relevant international meetings are being held around the world every week. This is where the climate …
Enter ‘global boiling’
July was the hottest month ever recorded on our planet. It marks a clear turning point from the previous era of talking about global warming as something that will happen in the future to recognising that it is happening already. This is evident all over the globe; from heat waves in North America and southern Europe, to floods in China …
We need a loss and damage report from the IPCC
The global activities to address climate change is divided into two major institutions and activities under the United Nations. The first is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), jointly run by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which deals with the latest scientific evidence on different aspects of climate change. The IPCC consists of …
Our world has entered its hottest days. What now?
Over the last few months, I have been saying at different meetings that 2023 will see the beginning of the era of losses and damages from human-induced climate change. I have also been saying that every new day, week, month, and year will bring more climate change impacts, and no country is prepared for what is to come. It was …
Looking back at London Climate Action Week 2023
London has the potential to become a global leader in harnessing the insurance sector to tackle climate change at scale. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has been holding an annual weeklong London Climate Action Week (LCAW) in summer every year since he was elected mayor five years ago. The week consists of a series of different events held all …
Key takeaways from the Paris summit on climate finance
Recently, I had the privilege of being invited to the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, hosted by President Emmanuel Macron of France, alongside over 20 heads of government. Bangladesh was represented by Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and Climate Envoy Saber Hossain Chowdhury. I was invited to speak at three events during the summit. The first was an …
Advancing the Glasgow Dialogue on funding to address Loss and Damage
One of the outcomes of the COP26 held in United Kingdom’s Glasgow in November, 2021 was a decision to hold a series of three annual Glasgow Dialogues on funding to address Loss and Damage, with each dialogue to be held in Bonn at the annual pre-COP event. I just attended the second annual Glasgow Dialogue, which was held over the …
Understanding the game of COP
Almost everyone who keeps an eye on climate change policy at the global level is by now familiar with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its annual Conference of Parties (COP), which are held every November or December and on a different continent each year. This year’s COP28 will be hosted by Dubai in December. During …
Understanding the concepts of adaptation and loss and damage
A major prediction has come out of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) this week, which says the world will almost certainly cross the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius of global atmospheric temperature rise within the next five years or so. This confirms that the world has already entered the era of losses and damages attributable to human-induced climate change and …