DHAKA, May 6 (IPS) – Olayde Bankole was born and raised in Nigeria, where climate change is evident in rising temperatures and fluctuating rainfall, and how droughts, desertification and rising sea levels are affecting people. We observed whether it had any effect.
He also acknowledged that rising sea levels threaten southern Nigeria’s cities and coastal areas, such as Lagos, increasing their vulnerability to flooding and water-borne diseases.
Mr. Bankole, who currently works as a policy analyst at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) in Canada, participated in the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) recently held in Dhaka to gain and share knowledge on NAP formulation. Participated in Expo 2024.
In an interview with IPS on the sidelines of the conference, he said there is hardly enough funding available for climate change adaptation.
IISD policy analysts said in 2009 that developed countries had pledged to donate billions of dollars a year by 2020 to poorer countries hit hardest by worsening disasters caused by climate change.
“Developed countries promised $100 billion a year and those promises were not kept,” he said.
Implementing the NAP required $230 billion in Bangladesh alone.
“First, developed countries have to keep their commitments and meet the target of at least $100 billion. Then they can move on to other financing. There is a process for financing, private sector financing But progress is too slow and we need to act fast. This is the theme of this NAP Expo: Transformative Adaptation.” told IPS.
He said many countries were already in a debt trap due to loans from various financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
“The finance they are receiving to adapt to climate change should not be a credit facility. It should be a concessionary grant. , loans taken to address the effects of climate change will increase the fiscal burden. Therefore, I don’t think the money should be a loan. It should be a concessional grant. Bankole said.
In a conversation with IPS on the sidelines, NAP Expo 2024 panelist Malik Fida A. Khan said that approximately 600 delegates and delegates from 104 countries will participate in the adaptation conference, which will support NAP development and financing in climate adaptation. He said the procurement process was discussed.
“Bangladesh needs $8.5 billion annually to implement the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) it adopted to address the impacts of climate change, and we urge development partners to provide concessional financing. “I’m looking for it,” he said.
Fida A. Khan, executive director of the Center for Environmental Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), a Dhaka-based think tank, said adaptation alone will not work to address the impacts of climate change in Bangladesh beyond 2026. He said implementation of mitigation programs is important. Is required.
He also noted that promises from developed countries to provide $100 billion a year to climate-vulnerable countries by 2020 have not been fulfilled.
“We have always called for subsidies, not loans, from the developed countries responsible for global alarm. “If we cannot provide huge subsidies, we should provide these countries with concessional loans at low interest rates of no more than 1%,” he said.
Speaking on the first day of the four-day NAP Expo 2024 on April 22, Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Bangladesh’s Minister of Environment, Forestry and Climate Change, said that despite climate change having a huge impact on many parts of the world, , said Bangladesh has made significant progress in tackling climate change. country and its people.
He said an agreed definition of climate finance must be the final outcome of COP29 focused on finance, including new joint quantitative targets, as the $100 billion commitment remains unfulfilled. These goals will take into account the growing needs of climate-vulnerable countries, small island developing States and, of course, least developed countries.
Mr Chaudhry said: We need to restore global trust and unity and ensure that the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as a global process delivers on its objectives and commitments, and national adaptation plans remain important in this regard. It will continue to be a pillar. ”
The four-day United Nations Climate Adaptation Conference National Adaptation Plan (NAP) Expo 2024 was held in April at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in Dhaka.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the meeting.
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