Category: Opinion
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OPINION: The G7 should keep its word on trillions for developing countries
G7 progress on mobilising trillions needed in clean infrastructure investment for developing countries appears largely rhetorical Developing country observers gazed on at COP26 when various leaders of wealthy and industrialized G7 countries spoke of aspirations to mobilize the trillions needed in clean infrastructure investment for developing countries. The teasing of trillions was an important part…
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Why should poor nations agree to climate action when the rich have broken so many promises?
Developed countries must agree to pay their share of a deal agreed 12 years ago – or risk a failed Cop26
People in developing countries have been bearing the brunt of climate change for decades. But it has taken wildfires in Greece, flooding in Germany and Belgium and a heatwave and hurricanes in the US for the rich world to really sit up and take notice. The challenge now is ensuring that world leaders listen to what is being said in low-income countries…
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OPINION: We must all learn how to tackle climate-induced loss and damage
Losses are growing in rich as well as poor countries – and it’s time to have an effective system to deal with them The adverse impacts from human-induced climate change are known as “loss and damage” – and how to tackle this issue has been a politically contentious issue in the United Nations climate negotiations…
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We must urgently prioritise adaptation to address the climate emergency
The recently-published report of Working Group-I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is a renewed wakeup call on the urgency of taking action at the global level to address climate change. It has, with more accuracy and confidence, confirmed that at least one degree Celsius of temperature rise compared to pre-industrial level can…
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OPINION: The era of loss and damage from climate change is upon us
As extreme weather worsens, what can Germany and other disaster-hit countries learn from well-prepared at-risk nations like Bangladesh? Sitting in Dhaka, Bangladesh I have been glued to my TV watching the heart-rending loss of so many lives and so much property due to the horrendous flash floods in Germany over the last few days. My…
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OPINION: If ‘totemic’ climate finance pledge is missed, developing nations should skip COP26
The UK official running the UN summit says rich nations must fulfill an unmet promise to provide $100 billion a year if they are to retain their credibility in negotiations Back in 2009, at the U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, rich countries first set a goal of channelling $100 billion in public and private…
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OPINION: We must discuss the Paris Agreement every day – not just once a year at COP
As the pandemic again threatens the annual UN climate summit, known as the COP, it’s time to push on with a fresh approach that uses all opportunities for climate action The British government, as the host of the COP26 U.N. climate conference that was originally planned for November 2020, decided to postpone it a year…
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2020 has been a year of nature-based solutions.
So what awaits us in 2021?In 2020, Nature-based Solutions, or NbS, has emerged as a much-talked-about environmental concept in Bangladesh. While the Covid-19 pandemic has put the whole world in turmoil, we do have other challenges to tackle—climate emergency, disaster risks, food and water insecurities, extreme poverty, and unprecedented biodiversity loss. In simple terms, NbS are the actions we take…
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Opinion: Where we stand five years after the Paris Agreement
Five years after the 2015 Paris Agreement was negotiated into existence, climate scientist Saleemul Huq says we are living in a climate-changed world. Five years on, the United Kingdom — as the incoming president of COP26 to be held in November 2021— has convened a Climate Ambition Summit. To be held on the fifth anniversary…
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A partnership of equals
Bangladesh and the UK can join forces to do a lot of good, including addressing the global problems of poverty and climate change The United Kingdom and Bangladesh have a very long and cordial relationship as members of the Commonwealth, as well as of the United Nations. Bangladesh has also benefited from the overseas development…
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Tales of local resilience on the frontlines of COVID and climate change
Migrant workers and slumdwellers have received little official help during the pandemic, but are finding their own ways to cope As the months pass from the start of the COVID19 pandemic, the world is on a rapid learning curve about what, and who, really matters. In developed countries, there has been a recognition that often…