Primacy and absence of climate change
Climate change in Bangladesh is everywhere and nowhere. This paradox plays out in newspaper headlines, foreign embassies, the offices of the prime minister and the Planning Commission, NGOs, the World Bank, and UN agencies; at environmental protests; and in the villages on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, whose vulnerability is a source of constant speculation and intervention by those concerned with the country’s development. Bangladesh is frequently referred to as the world’s most vulnerable country in regard to climate change, and the World Bank calls it “the emerging ‘hot spot’ where climate threats and action meet.” Climate change has become the terrain on which Bangladesh engages with the world. It is increasingly the lens through which the nation represents itself abroad; and, in turn, it is the primary means through which the world recognizes Bangladesh. This terrain of engagement was endorsed in 2015 when the United Nations awarded Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina the United Nations Champions of the Earth award for Bangladesh’s initiatives to address climate change. Conversations in the country about climate change are ubiquitous. They wind their way into topics as diverse as rice agriculture, garment manufacturing, microcredit, and child marriage. Addressing climate change is said to be necessary for the country’s economic growth and a means to make Bangladesh more democratic and more “cosmopolitan”. Bangladeshis also play a major role in international climate diplomacy, having organized and led the Least Developed Countries negotiating bloc in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations since the bloc’s inception. Claims about climate justice and climate action are ubiquitous throughout the country’s massive NGO sector. These narratives focus on the responsibility for developed countries to pay for climate action in less developed countries as reparation for their historical greenhouse gas emissions.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.