Climate crisis: Saber seeks UN support to empower vulnerable countries

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury has called upon the United Nations to be more responsive to the needs of developing countries, especially the most vulnerable ones in addressing those challenges.

He said for Bangladesh, issues like sea level rise, salinity intrusion and glacial melt are matters of survival.

He said this during his meeting with Amina J Muhammad, deputy secretary general of the United Nations, at a bilateral meeting held at the UN Headquarters in New York today.

The Deputy secretary general acknowledged Bangladesh's significant progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in achieving the global goals, particularly in the realm of climate change adaptation as exemplified by the implementation of its robust early warning systems. These systems have greatly enhanced the country's disaster preparedness and resilience, serving as a model for other nations.

During the meeting, the deputy secretary general and the environment minister deliberated on the devastating impacts of climate change, ongoing conflicts, and other global challenges that are hindering the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and emphasized the need for strengthened international collaboration to overcome these obstacles.

They also discussed how to amplify the voices of the global south in climate negotiations, especially in Conferences of Parties to secure more funding to tackle the impacts of climate change and support their green transition.

Earlier, the minister met with the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Achim Steiner and discussed areas of mutual cooperation.

The administrator commended Bangladesh's leadership in addressing climate change from a prosperity perspective and assured UNDP's continued support in delivering on its climate promise based on the specific needs of Bangladesh.

Aside from that, the minister also met with Chun Kyoo Park, head of the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), to discuss potential cooperation in the areas of waste management including by building the capacity of relevant national and local government institutions and supporting collection and analysis of relevant data.

The environment minister was accompanied by the permanent representative of Bangladesh to the UN in New York in the meetings.

He is in New York on an official visit from July 11 to 16. He is expected to have meetings with other relevant partners.