Dhaka will press for grant-based climate finance, operationalising the Loss and Damage Fund and stronger adaptation support as global leaders face renewed pressure to turn climate pledges into action.
The 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP31, opens in Turkey on Monday amid global efforts to protect the planet and growing uncertainty over climate action, with Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman due to travel to the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya on Tuesday for a three-day visit.
Rahman, who is travelling at the invitation of the Turkish government, will attend the high-level segment of the conference and deliver speeches in two separate sessions. He is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and several other high-level meetings on the sidelines.
The visit will provide Bangladesh with an opportunity to raise at the highest political level the interests of communities vulnerable to climate change, the country’s national priorities and the need for international cooperation, according to government officials and the Prime Minister’s Office.
Environmentalists and experts say world leaders are gathering at COP31 with a commitment to protect the planet from the devastating impacts of climate change, safeguard the future of vulnerable populations and advance climate justice. Bangladesh’s presence and position at the conference are particularly significant because it is highly vulnerable to climate change.
Bangladesh is prioritising global commitments to protect the planet and climate justice at this year’s conference. Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo said cyclones, floods, salinity, drought and heatwaves caused by climate change were placing people’s lives and livelihoods at serious risk.
He said Bangladesh would prioritise the protection of vulnerable people, climate justice, and financing and technological support for implementing national plans.
COP31 is being held from Nov. 9 to Nov. 20 at the Expo Centre in Antalya, a major tourist city on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. The Conference of the Parties, held under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, is the largest platform for global climate diplomacy.
The conference aims to increase global electrification to 35 percent by 2035, reduce methane emissions, cut energy use in the building sector by 25 percent and increase compensation and climate finance for developing countries under the Paris Agreement.
According to the UNFCCC media wing, UN climate change executive secretary Simon Stiell will deliver a key speech at the opening plenary on Monday at around 11 a.m. local time in Antalya. Murat Kurum is the designated president of COP31, while Chris Bowen will chair Monday’s opening session.
Rahman is scheduled to leave Dhaka on Tuesday morning for Turkey aboard a regular Turkish Airlines flight with members of his delegation. After arriving at Istanbul Airport in the afternoon, he will remain in transit for some time before travelling by domestic flight to Antalya.
His delegation will include Foreign Affairs State Minister-1 Humayun Kabir, Foreign Affairs State Minister-2 Shama Obaid, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Saimum Parvez, the Prime Minister’s Office’s chief coordinator for Sustainable Development Goals Professor Dr Sohaq Awal, Press Secretary Saleh Shibli and Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplus, along with a small delegation.
Rahman is scheduled to leave Turkey for Bangladesh on Nov. 12 in the afternoon.
According to officials, the prime minister will deliver speeches at two separate sessions over two days during the conference. In addition to his bilateral meeting with Erdogan, he is expected to hold several high-level meetings with world leaders on the sidelines.
Rahman previously held his first bilateral meeting with Erdogan on the sidelines in New York on Sept. 22. The meeting took place at Turkish House at 821 United Nations Plaza near the United Nations headquarters.
During that meeting, the two leaders expressed their determination to further strengthen the friendly relations between Bangladesh and Turkey. They also discussed opening new areas of future cooperation based on mutual interests and shared priorities. Both leaders were in the United States at the time to attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Rahman’s meeting with Erdogan in Turkey will be their second.
The COP process has been one of the main platforms for pursuing the goals of the Paris Agreement since it was signed in 2015. COP31 is being held in Antalya as the world faces increasingly harsh and unsettled weather conditions in various parts of the world under the influence of the El Nino climate pattern.
Environment and climate experts are attaching considerable importance to this year’s conference, particularly its agenda on raising global electrification to 35 percent by 2035, reducing methane emissions and cutting energy use in the building sector by 25 percent.
The conference will also seek to advance efforts by developed countries to provide compensation to developing nations under the Paris Agreement. Turkey and Australia, which are jointly leading the conference, will take initiatives to secure the funds pledged by developed countries as compensation for developing countries.
Climate experts have called on participating countries to give greater importance to reducing methane emissions.
The commitment under the Paris Agreement to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels remains subject to review as current global efforts have yet to achieve the target.
Previous COP meetings have produced several pledges on climate finance, reducing carbon emissions and transferring green technologies, but implementation has been slow. As a result, a major expectation surrounding COP31 is that negotiations will produce effective decisions rather than remain limited to verbal assurances.
Bangladesh has significant expectations from COP31 because low-lying and coastal countries such as Bangladesh face extreme risks from global climate change because of their geographical and environmental conditions.
Among Bangladesh’s main demands is the rapid operationalisation of the Loss and Damage Fund to secure compensation for irreversible losses caused by drought, floods, cyclones and rising sea levels.
Dhaka also wants accessible climate finance, with grant-based rather than loan-based funding to help developing countries adopt environmentally friendly technologies and build climate-resilient infrastructure. It is also seeking an increase in adaptation funding, including a doubling of allocations to global adaptation funds to help countries cope with the impacts of climate change.
Bangladesh will call on developed countries at COP31 to provide adequate grant-based funding and effective, accessible financial and technological assistance to address climate-related loss and damage.
Mintoo said it was essential to increase grants without adding to the debt burden for implementation of the National Adaptation Plan. He said global support was particularly needed for the safety of coastal, haor, char and drought-prone areas, early warning systems and locally led adaptation.
He said Bangladesh would also seek accessible grants from the Loss and Damage Fund to address not only economic losses but also non-economic losses such as displacement and loss of livelihoods.
Mintoo called for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and said major developed countries responsible for carbon emissions must take the lead. Bangladesh will also call for financing the environmentally friendly transformation of the agriculture, industry and energy sectors while strengthening protections for workers’ rights and employment opportunities for women and young people.
Dr Saimum Parvez, the prime minister’s special assistant for environment, forest and climate change, recently told journalists that Bangladesh had prepared a strong position paper based on the views of experts and relevant government departments.
The Bangladeshi delegation will coordinate with the Least Developed Countries group, the Group of 77 and like-minded countries. Parvez said the Bangladesh government would establish a 100-square-metre main pavilion and a separate jute pavilion at the conference venue to showcase the country’s adaptation experience and climate-related initiatives internationally.
Officials said the Bangladesh delegation, led by Rahman, would focus at COP31 on pressing developed countries to implement specific road maps for reducing carbon emissions and ensuring climate finance.
They said effective and practical decisions by world leaders at the conference would be crucial to protecting the planet and safeguarding future generations.
