Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has presented six proposals to world leaders to waive climate finance for affected countries and end the senseless arms race to divert funds to combat climate change impact. She emphasized the urgency of halting the futile arms race and reallocating funds toward addressing the pressing issue of climate change. It is crucial to prioritize the collective well-being of humanity over narrow self-interests in times of existential threat.
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These remarks were delivered during a panel discussion titled “From Pocket to Planet: Scaling Up Climate Finance” at the Munich Security Conference 2024 in Germany on Friday, February 16, 2024.
The Six-Point Proposal of The Prime Minister at The Munich Conference
Prime Minister’s six-point proposal at the Munich conference is discussed below:
- In the initial proposal among the six presented, the prime minister emphasized the imperative of devising strategies to mobilize climate financing, ensuring adherence to the path forward delineated by these suggestions. She reaffirmed the obligation of developed nations to honor their pledge of disbursing $100 billion annually until 2025, contingent upon a comprehensive delivery strategy. Furthermore, she urged collective consensus by year-end on establishing a fresh climate financing objective beyond 2025, ideally surpassing the $100 billion mark, grounded in scientific insights.
- In her second proposal, Sheikh Hasina emphasized the urgency of eliminating wars, conflicts, illegal occupations, and the senseless killing of unarmed civilians, particularly women and children, as seen in places like Gaza and beyond. She highlighted that the repercussions of sanctions and counter-sanctions extend well beyond the immediate conflict areas.
- In her third proposal, she emphasized the urgent need to rectify the significant disparity in funding allocated for mitigation and adaptation by advocating for a minimum doubling of the present adaptation financing. Within this framework, she expressed gratitude towards French President Macron for pledging €1 billion to Bangladesh to bolster adaptation efforts.
- Placing the fourth proposal, she emphasized that resolving the long-standing issue of streamlining access to existing international climate funds by developing countries was imperative, citing Bangladesh as an example where only two eligible entities are currently able to access financing from the ‘Green Climate Fund’, with two more undergoing the process.
- In the fifth proposal, Sheikh Hasina emphasized during her fifth proposal that the global financing architecture reform should yield tangible outcomes, particularly by enhancing access to grants and concessional loans to alleviate the debt burden of climate-vulnerable nations.
- Sheikh Hasina emphasized in her sixth and concluding recommendation that governments must allocate resources towards suitable strategies, policies, and tools to stimulate private investment in climate initiatives. Concurrently, she stressed the importance of international financial institutions devising creative and integrated funding mechanisms to entice private investment into viable projects.
“It’s clear that bridging the substantial climate financing deficits necessitates active involvement from the private sector,”
– Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
Bangladesh’s Climate Finance Initiatives
Sheikh Hasina recounted her participation in a closed-door meeting of leaders during COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009, where she realized the challenges in obtaining international climate finance. Upon returning home, she spearheaded the establishment of the Bangladesh Climate Change Trust Fund to execute locally-driven adaptation projects.
“We’ve transformed Bangladesh into a real-world laboratory for community-based climate adaptation,” she remarked, highlighting the implementation of nearly 800 projects totaling USD 480 million, all financed domestically.
Reflecting on COP28 in Dubai, she noted the encouraging start with the activation of the Loss and Damage Fund, securing USD 792 million in commitments. She expressed optimism for further pledges to enable the fund to fulfill its objectives.
Discussing Bangladesh’s climate vulnerability, she emphasized its ranking as the seventh most vulnerable nation despite negligible carbon emissions (less than 0.47% of global emissions). Projections indicate a 2 percent annual GDP loss due to climate change until 2050, escalating to 9 percent by 2100, with approximately 13.3 million people facing internal displacement. Presently, Bangladesh allocates approximately 4.6 percent of its annual budget and 0.74 percent of its GDP towards climate adaptation and resilience, with 75 percent sourced domestically, she added.
Six-Point Plan From PM: Why It Matters
Climate Financing Mobilization: Sheikh Hasina’s recommendation for mobilizing climate financing is a bold step towards addressing the urgent needs of developing nations. She urges developed nations to honor their pledge of disbursing $100 billion annually until 2025, which could help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance adaptation capacities. She also proposes a new financing objective beyond 2025, which could provide a clear and ambitious vision for the future of climate action.
Conflict Resolution: Sheikh Hasina’s call to end wars, conflicts, and illegal occupations is a noble aspiration that reflects her commitment to peace and justice. She recognizes that conflicts worsen the impacts of climate change and undermine the efforts of vulnerable nations to cope with them. She advocates for a peaceful and cooperative approach to resolving disputes and achieving the goals of a climate summit.
Disparity in Funding Allocation: Sheikh Hasina’s advocacy for increased adaptation financing is a crucial demand that highlights the disproportionate burden of climate change on developing nations. She calls for doubling the funding for adaptation, which could help bridge the gap between mitigation and adaptation efforts. She also emphasizes the need for a comprehensive approach that ensures accountability, transparency, and effectiveness of funding allocation.
Streamlining Access to Climate Funds: Sheikh Hasina’s suggestion to streamline access to climate funds is an important measure that could facilitate the implementation of climate projects. She suggests increasing the number of eligible entities accessing funds, which could enhance the diversity and inclusivity of climate finance. She also stresses the importance of addressing broader systemic issues such as capacity building, governance structures, and accountability mechanisms.
Global Financing Architecture Reform: Sheikh Hasina’s proposal to enhance access to grants and concessional loans is an essential initiative that could alleviate the debt burden of climate-vulnerable nations. She proposes reforming the global financing architecture, which could address systemic issues such as inequitable trade practices, unsustainable debt burdens, and lack of technology transfer. She also advocates for a holistic approach that tackles the root causes of economic vulnerability to climate change.
Stimulating Private Investment: Sheikh Hasina’s encouragement of private investment in climate initiatives is a vital strategy that could leverage the potential of the private sector. She urges governments to allocate resources and financial institutions to devise funding mechanisms, which could create a favorable environment for private investment. She also calls for safeguards to ensure that private investments prioritize social and environmental sustainability over short-term profits.
