Sheikh Hasina sees a Deficit in Global Adaptation Efforts

By Amila Khan

In a virtual speech at the Climate Adaptation Conference 2021 in the Netherlands, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that there is a significant gap in the global effort to adapt to climate change’s adverse effects.

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte delivered the welcome address before delivering Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s speech at the conference. Bangladesh is serving as the President of the Climate Vulnerable Forum-CVA. The South Asian Office of Global Centers on Adaptation is also here.

For the first time, the summit has created a platform with global leaders and local stakeholders to build the world’s capacity to cope with the adverse effects of climate change.

On Monday, December 25, 2021, the Prime Minister further said her government had taken the necessary steps to adapt to the adverse effects already seen in Bangladesh by emphasizing the process of reducing future losses. But global adaptation measures are far from the necessary pace than the damage caused by the lack of funding and political will.

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh would play its key role in taking global adaptation steps in place of global leadership.

“With the help of the Netherlands, we have formulated the Bangladesh Delta Plan-2100. As part of the celebration of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s birth centenary, we have planted 11.5 million saplings. And we have launched a program called ‘Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan.’ “

The Prime Minister also mentioned that she had taken 789 programs from his Climate Change Trust Fund at the cost of about 45 crores.

Referring to these two issues, the Prime Minister said, “We are taking forward the steps taken for local adaptation as much as possible. They can also bring solutions to communities at risk of adverse effects of climate change in different parts of the world.”