Bangladesh stakes claim to 15% of climate fund

By: G M Mourtoza on December 14th, 2009

COPENHAGEN–Bangladesh, the most vulnerable country to climate change, is demanding at least 15 percent of a proposed fund for adaptation, said state Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud.

At a press conference on the sidelines of UN climate talks in the Danish capital, Dr Mahmud explained why Bangladesh needs the fund and why the country has already been identified as the most vulnerable country among the Least Develop Countries (LDCs).

Last week, the NGO GermanWatch released its Global Climate Risk Index 2010, which listed Bangladesh at the top of the list of vulnerable countries.

“It is expected that one billion people will be displaced due to climate-induced events, out of which 150 million people are from Bangladesh,” said Dr Mahmud, adding “so we certainly may claim 15 percent of the global fund as compensation from developed countries.”

The minister said Bangladesh is creating a growth path to transcend to a middle-income country in a decade’s time, but climate change has become the biggest threat to that aspiration.

Dr Mahmud said Bangladesh wants differentiation between countries highly exposed to climate change and other poor countries that are less vulnerable.

“About 20 countries might be considered as the most vulnerable in terms of the size of their population and intensity of exposure to climate change,” he said.

Dr Mahmud said that over the last several decades Bangladesh has experienced both its highest and lowest temperatures — 5 to 44 degrees Celsius — along with highly erratic rainfall.

Increased frequency of cyclones, drought and salinity increase have put the 35 million coastal people of the country directly vulnerable to climate change.

Bangladesh developed a National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) in 2005 to work out immediate adaptation needs, as well as a National Strategy and Action Plan on Climate Change.

The government from its own resources has created a domestic fund of US$ 100 million for adaptation and created an enabling environment for future investment, he said.

Elsewhere in the climate talks, the Bangladesh delegation presented information on earlier extreme weather events, including the devastating cyclones that have ravaged the country in the last two years: Aila, Sidr, Nargis and Bijlee.

The structure of the climate adaptation fund is one of the sticking points of the negotiations here. A big question is who will manage the fund. “We, from the government side, certainly want to have a major role in operating the fund,” he said.

He said Bangladesh wants from the rich countries at least 1.5 percent of their GDP as compensation for their historic responsibility of burning fossil fuels and causing climate change. He said Bangladesh intends to use the climate fund for afforestation inthe  coastal belt, construction of embankments at coastal areas and houses and shelters for displaced people.

Besides claiming compensation, the state minister said the most vulnerable countries would press world leaders to sign a legally binding deal on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases by 45 percent by the year 2020 compared to 1990 levels.

The Danish government host has already agreed with the vulnerability of Bangladesh and this has been reflected in their proposal, the minister said, adding Denmark has already assured Bangladesh it will purchase carbon credits from several sectors.