Developed countries should honour their pledge

At the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has pointed out that effective action plans to address climate change are not possible without adequate, sustained, and flexible climate finance, and we fully agree with her. This is what experts—along with leaders of vulnerable and developing countries—have been saying for nearly a decade. The rich countries agreed to begin providing USD 100 billion per year from 2020 to address the needs of developing countries, at the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit. While, according to experts, even that amount is insufficient compared to the finance needed to adequately address climate change, many saw that as a good start. Unfortunately, the rich countries have so far failed to make good on that promise.

According to the UN's "Emissions Gap Report 2019," USD 1.6-3.8 trillion is needed annually between 2020-2050 to avoid global warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius. That the rich countries have been unwilling to provide the miniscule amount they promised in comparison to that, does not instil much confidence in their willingness to act upon their promises in regards to addressing climate change. Yet, the reality is that these rich countries are the biggest carbon emitters in the world—and have been for decades. Developing and climate vulnerable countries have mostly been the sufferers of that, as their carbon footprint is much smaller in comparison. Therefore, it is only fair—as even the rich countries have admitted—for them to provide the developing and vulnerable countries with some of the funds that they require to take action to both address climate change, as well as mitigate for the resulting losses. Why, then, have the rich countries failed to do what they agreed to do, for over a decade? The answer can only be a lack of sincerity to the suffering of developing countries and/or a lack of concern for the urgency with which this issue must be addressed.

At this year's climate summit, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is not only representing Bangladesh, but 48 most vulnerable developing countries, who are members of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF). As such, her blunt statement urging the rich countries to keep their promise is surely commendable. The CVF has already demanded for the rich countries to provide USD 500 billion between 2020 and 2024, and we hope that this fund can be secured—as grants, not through other ambiguous channels as we have seen climate funds being delivered before—during negotiations at the summit.

Without the necessary finance, plans to address climate change cannot be put in motion. In the absence of effective action, we fear that the entire planet will be in great danger, as experts have warned. Therefore, we hope that the world leaders—particularly those representing developed countries—will take cognisance of this reality, and instead of repeating empty rhetoric, they will take meaningful actions, including in the form of providing the finance required for developing countries and the world to address climate change.