Bangladesh on Tuesday took the charge of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Ministers of Finance as chair from Marshall Island to what foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said give ‘voice to the voiceless’ countries of the world.
The CVF is a global partnership of 48 countries highly vulnerable to a warming planet. V20 within the CVF was formed on October 8 in 2015 in Lima, Peru.
Maldives founded the CVF before the 2009 UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Bangladesh was the third chair from 2011 to 2013.
But this time, Bangladesh’s chairmanship for 2020-2022 came at a time when the world is facing an unprecedented crisis due to coronavirus pandemic. The economic downturn due to the pandemic is expected to be the worst-ever.
Despite that, Bangladesh earned kudos for managing a massive cyclone Amphan in May when the government evacuated over 2.3 million people from the coastal areas, saving many lives.
The foreign minister said they would spread those lessons to the world during the chairmanship.
“It’s a historic day for us. We are also opening GCA (Global Center of Adaptation) regional office in Dhaka. It’s a milestone,” he said, replying to a question at a virtual press briefing.
“We got the chance to represent 48 countries. We will have a bigger voice (as a chair of CVF). We will be the voice of the voiceless and in the process we hope we will achieve our goals,” he said.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh is a model now in terms of addressing climate change.
“We hope to translate those experiences with our member states and beyond,” he said, citing the experiences of cyclone Amphan in which only a few people died.
Among other priorities, he said creation of a new CVF and V20 Trust Fund, possibility of having a new Special Rapporteur on climate change, appointing CVF’s thematic Envoys and Special Envoys for Climate Change, publication of the third edition of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor will rank high during Bangladesh’s presidency.
“We will also highlight the issues of ‘Loss and Damage’ and the cases of displacement of the climate refugees caused by climate change,” he said.
Foreign Minister of Marshal Island Casten N. Nemra and Commissioner for the Environment, Forest and Climate Change of Ethiopia Prof Fekadu Beyene were also present.
Replying to a question, Prof Fekuda said: “We have to give the voice to voiceless. Covid19 is not avoiding climate change. Climate change is happening. We have to work hard and address the climate change.”
The foreign ministry in a statement said under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh will be the voice of the vulnerable countries and will promote their interests in the global platform during her presidency of CVF and V20.
“We, the Troika Ministers from Bangladesh, Marshal Islands and Ethiopia along with CVF Expert Advisory Group, CVF Secretariat and GCA Headquarters have had a productive meeting on how to further build on the current accomplishments of CVF and V-20.
“We shared experiences, ideas and sought support for a common cause which is to protect the interests of the vulnerable countries,” the foreign minister said in a written statement.
“We hosted a Ministerial Meeting of the forum on November 13–14, 2011 in Dhaka, where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon were keynote speakers at its inauguration ceremony.
“Bangladesh established the first Trust Fund of CVF. Out of the membership of CVF, Finance Ministers of the Vulnerable Twenty (V20), representing close to 700 million people threatened by climate change and spanning different regions of the world, held their inaugural meeting on 8 October 2015 in Lima, Peru and issued a declaration and announced the formation of V20 Group within the CVF.”
“CVF and V20 are great examples of South-South and Triangular cooperation,” he said.
Recently, Global Centre on Adaptation in the Netherlands agreed to act as the Secretariat of the CVF.
During the Tuesday meeting, the foreign minister said they discussed particularly the priorities of Bangladesh during the presidency of these two platforms.
“We require support and full cooperation from all member states of CVF, CVF Secretariat, GCA Headquarters and other development partners for a successful presidency. We urge all to attach the highest level of priority to CVF and V20 and to contribute by providing technical and financial support to carry out the priority works ahead.”
