Contribute more to tackle climate change

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged developed countries and development partners on Wednesday to move forward further to aid vulnerable countries tackle climate change in a proper manner, not just to utter promise volleys.

"We devise different climate change programs, we collect numbers of commitments, but no-one fulfills those agreements as they promised," she said.

The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating the Bangladesh Development Forum 2020 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC).

The Economic Relations Division (ERD), Ministry of Finance, organizes the BDF, a high-level multi-stakeholder participatory forum periodically organized by the ERD, providing a platform for successful discussion between development partners, national and international NGOs, think tanks for sustainability, development practitioners, business and industry leaders.

The Prime Minister said that since the developed countries and the development partners are not upholding their commitments properly, the government of Bangladesh has established a Trust Fund to tackle the problems of climate change in this regard.

"We've built the Fund with our own money. We're getting very little funding as support," she said.

Sheikh Hasina urged the developed countries and development partners to take further steps to help countries like Bangladesh affected by climate change.

"Further help is needed.[ Not only] Bangladesh will need that assistance,[ but also] the small islands and other countries that will be affected by climate change," she said.

She also said Bangladesh is not at all responsible for climate change, but it will affect the country.

"Those who are most responsible for climate change should contribute the most to this," she said.

The prime minister said the government has formulated and started implementing the Delta Plan 2100 to save Bangladesh from the effects of climate change.

She also said the development partners would come forward to assist in those areas where Bangladesh has started moving forward and advancing the country properly, rather than providing too many requirements.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Senior Vice President of JICA Dr Junichi Yamada, World Bank's Vice President for the South Asia Region Hartwig Schafer, Vice-President (Operations 1) of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Shixin Chen, United Nations Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Bangladesh Mia Seppo and Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Monowar Ahmed also spoke at the programme.