Sohara Mehroze Shachi
Climate change is the harsh reality facing us today. Our country is one of the most climate vulnerable nations and is already experiencing impacts of climate change, including extreme temperatures and increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters.
We are not alone – millions of people around the world are climate change victims, and to prevent the situation from exacerbating, it is of paramount importance that green house gas emissions are slashed significantly.
Recognizing the futility of denying climate change further, the world came to a consensus and signed the historic Paris climate deal last year. Governments from around the world presented their INDCs i.e. their plan of action for mitigation (cutting down emissions) at the country level and reducing global warming.
In order to implement INDCs, many nations are developing or have developed nationally appropriate mitigation actions (NAMAs), which are country level sector specific policy and programs to cut down emissions and attain sustainable development. In a nutshell, NAMA outlines the bottom up measures required to attain the top level INDC goals of a country – they are essentially sector wise INDCs.
Bangladesh, unfortunately, still has not developed its NAMAs. According to the Climate Fiscal Framework for Bangladesh, since overall emissions of the country are insignificant compared to that of the rest of the world, mitigation is not a priority for the country. Bangladesh’s INDCs say the government will only undertake mitigation measures if those do not affect the economic growth and have adaptation co benefits i.e. contribute to reducing climate vulnerability of people.
However, it is of paramount importance for Bangladesh to develop its NAMA fast for a variety of reasons. NAMAs help determine the government exactly how much international financial assistance is required for undertaking climate change mitigation activities. Moreover, whether a country will receive international financial support for undertaking mitigation activities as laid out in its INDCs is largely dependent on the presence of full-fledged NAMAs, which offer a channel for accessing climate finance and private investment. And these funding sources are essential for the government, as their own resources would not suffice to meet their climate change mitigation goals.
There is no denying that NAMAs are an essential element for implementing the INDCs and the Paris Agreement.
The Bangladesh government must take a leading role in NAMA implementation, not just to attain its mitigation targets in the INDCs and gain access to climate funds, but also to lead by example, creating a moral imperative for other nations for to pick up their share of the climate change burden.