UN passes historic climate change resolution

Prof. M Zahidul Haque

Prof. M Zahidul Haque

CLIMATE CHANGE is one of the biggest and critical crises the humanity is facing. Nations around the world are working on defining and finding out appropriate ways and means to combating climate change impacts on our dear planet and on its inhabitants.

It is now confirmed through scientific evidences that the ever increasing “greenhouse gasses” on Earth’s atmosphere is actually contributing to global warming causing ice masses melting in Greenland, Antarctica and mountain glacier. As a consequence, the sea-level has risen significantly. Rising of global temperature is resulting in a continuing buildup of heat.

Among the major greenhouse gasses, (carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide), the Carbon dioxide emission is increasing due to burning of fossil fuels and deforestation. The continuous destruction of natural forest plus indiscriminate cutting of trees is decreasing the number of plants available for turning carbon dioxide into oxygen.

Climate change is impacting over agriculture and food security, displacement/migration of people and economic progress and development. It is evident that certain human-made factors like fossil fuel burning, destruction of natural forests are causing extreme weather events like drought, flooding, cyclone, snowfall, etc.

The United Nations organizes climate summit every year for governments to agree steps to limit global temperature rise through concerted efforts. The latest, that is, the 27th conference of Parties (COP27) was held in Egypt in November last year reaffirming the commitment to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly on March 29, 2023 passed a historic resolution seeking an International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion on climate change. This landmark resolution was initiated by Vanuatu Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau. Vanuatu is a small Pacific Island whose very existence is at great risk from climate change impacts. A group of nearly 20 countries including Bangladesh supported the initiation of the resolution which received the UNGA’s consensus adoption on March 29, 2023.

It may be mentioned here that more than 1700 civil society groups across 130 countries endorses the resolution. The Commonwealth foundation supported young climate negotiators in COP27 in Egypt. The Commonwealth Charter puts a huge focus on protecting our environment. It was a core group of Commonwealth countries—Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Mozambique, New Zealand, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Uganda and Vanuatu—that put this on the UN’s agenda.

It may be mentioned here that Bangladesh is also at the forefront of climate change impacts.

In fact, the most impacted countries like Vanuatu and Bangladesh are not that much responsible for contributing towards the Climate change phenomenon. Hence it implies upon the industrially advanced rich countries to generously help the less developed countries combating the climate change impacts.

(The writer who recently retired as a Professor was former Dean of Faculty of Agriculture at Sher-e-Bangka Agricultural University)