As the climate changes, Bangladesh is also changing. This is most obvious in terms of biophysical changes — stronger hurricanes, harder rainfall and more salinity — but it is also affecting the government’s budget, institutional systems, and the way it manages its finances. The question is as climate change accelerates, can Bangladesh change fast enough? There are many changes from …

The Paris Agreement (PA) on climate change which was achieved at the 21st conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris in December 2015 was historic in several ways. Firstly, it, unlike its predecessor the Kyoto Protocol, which only required developed countries to take actions to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases, …

Over the next two to three decades, there are two major overarching trends that Bangladesh will have to deal with, and therefore have to plan for as well. The first trend is a positive one, which is our desire, and indeed commitment, to graduating out of Least Developed Country (LDC) status within less than a decade. The second, more negative …

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 …

Bangladesh has just hosted a big international conference on migration as the co-chair, with Germany, of the Global Forum on Migration and Development. While the focus of the Conference was mostly on the current problems related to international migration there was some discussion of the possible impacts of climate change on migration in the future. There was also the launching …

The last day of the First Annual Urban Conference kicked off with the topic “Financing the Sustainable Urban Development Agenda” hosted by BCAS. The topic’s main focus was to uphold clear and sustainable financing in the urban context. The session was chaired by Dr. Atiq Rahman executive director at BCAS and the chief guest for this session was Dr. Samsul …

The First Annual National Conference on Urban Resilience is being organized by International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) at Independent University Bangladesh (IUB), and Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), Bangladesh. The inaugural session was opened by keynote speaker Mr. John I. Carruthers, Director of Sustainable Urban Planning Program at George Washington University. Mr. Carruthers expressed his …

Prime Minister Hasina is now in Marrakech, Morocco, for the 22nd Conference of Parties (COP22) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). She was invited, along with other heads of government and ministers, by the King of Morocco to attend the opening of the first meeting of Parties to the Paris Agreement here on November 15. In …

The morning of last Monday in Marrakech, Laurent Fabius, the Environment Minister of France, who was president of the United Nations Framework on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) since last December, handed over the presidency to Hakima El Haite, the Environment Minister of Morocco. She has now taken over as President of COP22 here in Marrakech. This …

Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) is distinct from many other private universities for several reasons. It follows the liberal arts education model. The main focus of the liberal art education is that in addition to specialised disciplines, students must be educated in other broader fields. Students of one discipline must know something about other disciplines that are related to life. When …