With the activation of the Paris Agreement, the issue of loss and damage becomes a central tenet of international climate governance. The UN climate body is now committed to address the impacts of climate change that go beyond adaptation. These include everything from islands sinking in the Pacific Ocean to infrastructure damage during cyclones. This is somewhat surprising given how …
Role of parliamentarians in tackling climate change
I have just been to Geneva, Switzerland where I was invited to speak at the General Assembly of the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) on the role of parliamentarians in tackling climate change. The IPU is the oldest and biggest union of parliamentarians from all the world’s parliaments and its current President is Bangladeshi parliamentarian Saber Hossain Choudhury. There are four …
1.5 to stay alive: UN’s warming goal feels the heat
The tougher temperature goal was a great victory for the vulnerable countries in terms of global diplomacy and advocacy. Now comes the hard part of implementation. One of the most hotly contested and far reaching outcomes of the Paris Agreement agreed last December was the inclusion of the long term warming limit of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Going into that …
Paris Agreement On Climate Change
Approaching the 55/55 threshold The original article was published as Paris Agreement On Climate Change at Daily Star, an Op-Ed by Dr. Saleemul Huq. The historic Paris Agreement on Climate Change that was agreed at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris, France last December, was a major …
An opportunity for LDC leadership
(Originally published here) In Paris, the least developed country group was a key player in delivering this agreement — pushing relentlessly for a legally binding and effective agreement with universal participation, inclusion of the 1.5 degree target, loss and damage, and for the much-needed finance. Who will be the next executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change …
Could an African become the new U.N. climate chief?
(Originally published here) The next head of the U.N. process to tackle climate change should come from one of the world’s poorest countries, which led an ambitious drive to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the new Paris deal, a leading expert has proposed. With Christiana Figueres stepping down as executive secretary of the U.N. climate change convention …
Not Fully Lost and Damaged: How Loss and Damage Fared in the Paris Agreement
(Originally published here) The Paris Agreement coming out of the Conference of Parties (COP) 21 negotiations gave breakthrough recognition to loss and damage, sorting through thorny discussions and politically charged negotiating positions. These positions revolved around liability and compensation, which developing countries called for but developed countries were unwilling to have included in the Agreement. The UN Framework Convention on …
Saleemul Huq: if climate talks were democratic, vulnerable countries ‘would have won already’
(Originally published here) With many “climate-vulnerable” nations calling on the Paris climate summit (COP21) to adopt a global warming limit of 1.5℃ rather than 2℃, will these concerns be acted upon? And if not, how much help will they get to cope with the consequences? Matt McDonald: Your research has examined developing countries in the context of climate change – …
The Road to Paris: how can the world’s most vulnerable countries be heard?
(Originally posted on the IIED website here) With a month to go until the start of COP21, Saleemul Huq provides an insight into the perspectives of the Least Developed Countries ahead of the Paris climate talks, as part of a new series of video interviews for IIED. Least Developed Countries must use their “strength of numbers” if they are to …
The next phase in the global battle
(Article originally published on The Daily Star here) The recent award of Champion of the Earth conferred upon Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is a fitting recognition of her personal achievements, as well as that of the government and people of Bangladesh, in being a pioneer among nations in tackling climate change in particular. …
