Developing climate adaptability

The 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Baku, Azerbaijan has begun with the looming shadow of overwhelming climate impacts spreading further. Add to this the possible withdrawal of the United States of America from the carbon credits under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement, also known as the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism. Although the parties have reached a consensus on standards for carbon credit, US senior advisor to the President for International Climate Policy John Podesta has rightly expressed his doubt that the agreements reached at Baku would ever be endorsed by the administration under Donald Trump when he takes over. The US is the largest contributor to the climate fund which has ever remained inadequate and far below the level committed by the wealthy West.

Also carbon credit is not a sound mechanism because it is used as a pretext for maintaining the environmental pollution by the rich countries. In fact, it is a kind of licence for fouling the environment on behalf of the poorer countries. The only positive outcome of it is the so-called compensation the developing and vulnerable countries receive. But the deserving countries hardly receive the amount they need. For example Bangladesh needs US$12 billion annually for climate mitigation but it gets no more than $350 million a year. Earlier, it was estimated that the country would require $876 billion for implementation of its climate action plans. The National Adaptation Plan (NAP) alone requires an investment of $230 billion until 2050. Additionally, execution of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) also needs $175 billion. Not only was Bangladesh denied the committed climate fund early this year, it was also forced to borrow money from international bodies for implementation of its priority climate projects.

A country that is likely to lose 17 per cent of its territory to the sea-level rise by 2050, as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) predicts, certainly deserved more climate fund than it receives now. Bangladesh ranks ninth in the global climate disaster index. At least the 10 most disaster-prone nations should be given special attention for them to meet the challenges of climate-induced adversities. Now that Europe and America are also encountering unprecedented and unforeseen climatic convulsions, the countries on those continents should better appreciate the environmental crises the planet is facing primarily because of their mindless burning of fossil fuels for more than two centuries. President-elect Trump, with his past credentials, is most likely to reverse the momentum of climate conference but there is one silver-lining concerning a consensus on green energy across the Republican-Democrat divide.

How the COP29 ends up in Baku is not clear yet. But about one thing there are reasons to be optimistic. Many of the countries---both developed and developing---have declared their NDCs, some more than committed earlier and even ahead of schedules. One hopes Bangladesh would find its place in that league but for its economic crunch. Climate change for the worse is directly linked to economic vulnerability. There is no doubt that greater and closer international cooperation and collaboration in climate adaptability mechanism can help countries like Bangladesh overcome the odds.