“To protect the planet and ourselves I’d suggest— political leadership must encourage robust international collaboration; the global temperature increase must be limited to 1.5 degree Celsius and all Paris provisions must be implemented; and promised funds have to be made available to the vulnerable countries,” she told a roundtable on Climate Action at the UN headquarters in New York.
The Prime Minister was addressing the high-level roundtable event held on the sidelines of the 75th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) virtually.
Placing two other suggestions, she in her pre-recorded video statement said, “Polluting countries must increase their NDCs through necessary mitigation measures, and recognise that rehabilitation of the climate refugees is a global responsibility.”
Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh has some ideas and experiences to share on adaptation and resilience. “We’ve prepared Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 to deal with the challenges of climate change and water management,” she said.
The prime minister said Bangladesh has built 4,291 cyclone shelters and 523 flood shelters in the country. Some 56,000 volunteers are available to facilitate preparation prior to any cyclone, she added.
“That’s why we joined the ‘REAP’ initiative which aims to make one billion people around the world safer from disasters by 2025,” Sheikh Hasina said.
Noting that Bangladesh is the current Chair of CVF (Climate Vulnerable Forum), she said the Global Center of Adaptation’s regional office has recently been established in Dhaka.
The Prime Minister extended thanks to UN Secretary-General António Guterres for his concern regarding the impacts of climate change.
This roundtable event convened by the UN Secretary-General showcased high-impact solutions by governments and real economy leaders, in line with the Secretary-General’s six climate-positive actions to recover better together.
The event showed the vast social and economic benefits of a sustainable recovery and of action to limit global warming to 1.5°C by achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres made the introductory remarks at the 90-minute event featuring a roundtable with around 20 global climate leaders from governments, private sector and civil society.
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UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, President of Chile Sebastián Piñera Echenique, Nigerian President Mahamadou Issoufou, Fijian Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and Bhutanese Prime Minister Dr Lotay Tshering spoke at the high-level event.
UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Climate Action and Finance Mark Carney, President of Microsoft Brad Smith, Chief Minister of Indian Bihar State Nitish Kumar, CEO of European Climate Foundation Laurence Tubiana, Brazil’s largest private sector bank Itau-Unibanco CEO Candido Botelho Bracher, CEO of the Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) Dinah McLeod, among others, spoke at the roundtable.
International journalist and television presenter Femi Oke moderated the roundtable.