In a recent visit to Dhaka, Bangladesh, COP28 President-Designate Dr. Sultan Al Jaber emphasized his action agenda, centered on accelerating a just energy transition, refining climate finance, prioritizing people’s lives and livelihoods, and fostering inclusive practices in all actions.
Dr. Al Jaber met with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, with both leaders expressing a shared commitment to safeguarding vulnerable communities from the impacts of climate change. As a former Chair of the V20-CVF countries, an international forum for economies systemically vulnerable to climate change, Prime Minister Hasina vowed to work in close collaboration with the COP28 President-Designate in the months leading up to the climate conference.
During their meeting, Prime Minister Hasina applauded Dr. Al Jaber for positioning food systems at the core of climate discussions. Their conversation also addressed the imperative need for reform in international financial institutions and multilateral development banks to attract more private finance. They highlighted the importance of fulfilling the $100 billion commitment from donor countries and the urgent need to operationalize the fund for Loss and Damage.
Acknowledging Bangladesh as a climate adaptation role model, Dr. Al Jaber praised Prime Minister Hasina’s leadership in food and agriculture innovation. The Prime Minister agreed to advocate for the food agenda at COP28, emphasizing the significance of food system transformation and agricultural innovation for sustainable development.
Dr. Al Jaber encouraged Bangladesh to continue sharing its innovative climate solutions, like renewable energy targets and global preparedness measures, with other climate-vulnerable nations.
Dr. Al Jaber remarked, “Bangladesh’s goal of achieving 40% clean energy by 2040 demonstrates real leadership, even though the country contributes a mere 0.25% of global emissions.”
He commended Prime Minister Hasina’s efforts in advocating for climate-vulnerable communities at an international level and expressed his eagerness to work with her to bolster climate, social, and economic solutions.
Prime Minister Hasina pledged Bangladesh’s full support to the COP28 Presidency and expressed her confidence in Dr. Al Jaber’s role as a convener of the multilateral climate process.
Dr. Al Jaber also co-chaired a roundtable on climate action, asserting the importance of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius. In addition, he met with students from Dhaka Residential Model College, acknowledging their innovative work to sustainably enhance crop production using microorganisms.
He concluded his visit by meeting with Bangladesh-based COP28 International Climate Youth Delegates and winners of the Zayed Sustainability Prize. He stressed, “If we are going to make transformational progress, we need an unconventional approach that includes all sectors of society working in solidarity on the solutions we need.”
Image provided by COP28
