Human Chain and bicycle rally held in Dhaka to demand climate justice
“G-20 development plans without coordination to prevent pollution and climate change will be in vain.”
Sharif Jamil, the former general secretary of Bangladesh Environment Movement (BAPA) and the coordinator of Waterkeepers Bangladesh, commented that the development plans of G-20 countries without climate justice do not have the right to cause humanitarian disasters in third-world countries like ours.
He said, “If they do not consider the expressions and experiences of the people of this region, they will make many mistakes. All their development plans will be in vain.”
Sharif Jamil said these things at the human chain held at Shah Bagh in Dhaka’s capital on September 8, 2023. The event was organized by the ASEAN People’s Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) and co-sponsored by Waterkeepers Bangladesh, Equity BD, Youth Net for Climate Justice, Center for Participatory Research and Development, Brati, Global Law Thinkers Society, Bangladesh Farmers Federation, Sundarbans and Coast Protection Movement and Bangladesh Cycle Lane Implementation Council.
Sharif Jamil said, “They will shut down polluting industries in their own country and run them in our country to buy products. This cannot be allowed anymore.”
We don’t want debt; we want climate change compensation. We demand fair compensation for the industrialized nations’ responsibility for climate change-induced environmental disasters, recurring floods, fires, cyclones, landslides, loss of life and property.”
Speakers at the event said that the G20 alliance has repeatedly failed to deliver the positive changes it promised due to insufficient action.
The Coalition’s failure to make the expected contribution to issues such as debt relief, tariff policy, energy-source transition, and tackling climate change has been marked by consistently adopting a variety of weak policies.
Under the slogan ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future,’ the G-20 International Economic Forum, comprising 19 countries of the world’s strongest economies and the EU, is being held in Delhi, the capital of India, on September 9-10, 2023. On the eve of that, such programs are being celebrated in Asian countries, including Bangladesh, to demand climate justice.
The honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, will attend the conference on climate compensation. The speakers wished success to the Honorable Prime Minister at the G-20 countries forum to highlight our climate justice and collect fair compensation correctly.
In addition to the human chain and bicycle rally, Dhaka University of Mime Action presented a mime on environmental issues. Around a hundred cyclists from Bangladesh Cycle Lane Implementation Council and Keraniganj Cycling participated in the rally.
The cycle rally started from Shahbagh in the capital and circled the Engineers Institute of Bangladesh, Shilpakala Academy, High Court, and TSC and ended at Shahbagh again.
ASM Badrul Alam, President of Bangladesh Farmers Federation, Sanat Kumar Bhowmik, Md. Shamsuddoha, Deputy Executive Director of Coast Foundation, MS Siddiqui, Chief Executive of CPRD Member of Bangladesh Competitiveness Commission, Sundarbans, and Coastal Protection addressed the meeting under the chairmanship of Brati, Chief Executive Sharmin Murshid, Chandra Bhadra, Md. Aminul Islam Tubbus, Coordinator of Bangladesh Cycle Lane Implementation Council among others gave speeches on the human chain.
President of Dhanmondi Tourist Cyclist Moch Tahajjat Hossain, Green Page Advisor Environmentalist Engineer Mahfuzur Rahman, and various non-governmental organizations’ climate activists were present at the event.
The president of the meeting ended the program by thanking everyone for participating in the program, wishing for a higher level of participation and success in the demand for climate justice in the future.
