Highest environmental accolade to be given on September 27th.
By Sujeet Rajan
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NEW YORK: The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, has been announced as one of the winners of the United Nations’ highest environmental accolade, the ‘Champions of the Earth’ award, in recognition of Bangladesh’s far-reaching initiatives to address climate change.
The Champions of the Earth award in the Policy Leadership category, which Hasina will accept at a ceremony in New York on September 27, recognizes Bangladesh’s first-off-the-block initiatives to prepare the ecologically fragile country for the challenges it faces from climate change.
The other winners named so far are the National Geographic Society (Science and Innovation); Brazilian cosmetics firm Natura (Entrepreneurial Vision); and South Africa’s Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit (Inspiration and Action). Other winners will be announced throughout September. The awards will be handed out at a gala ceremony at the close of the Sustainable Development Goals summit, on September 27.
With a population of more than 159 million, Bangladesh is one of the world’s most populated countries. It is also one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Cyclones, floods and droughts have long been part of the country’s history, but they have intensified in recent years.
From 1990 to 2008 Bangladesh averaged annual losses of 1.8 per cent of the country’s GDP due to natural disasters.
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said in a statement, “Through a number of forward-looking policy initiatives and investments, Bangladesh has placed confronting the challenge of climate change at the core of its development. These initiatives, from climate change adaptation measures to ecosystem preservation legislation, mean that current and future generations of Bangladeshis are better prepared to address climate change risks and reverse the impacts of environmental degradation.”
The award cites the progressive Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan of 2009, which made Bangladesh the first developing country to frame such a coordinated action plan. Bangladesh is also the first country to set up its own Climate Change Trust Fund supported by nearly US$300 million of domestic resources from 2009-2012.
Bangladesh currently earmarks 6-7 per cent of its annual budget – some $1 billion – on climate change adaptation, with only 25 per cent of this coming from international donors. A ‘Climate Change Fiscal Framework’ is also in the works to enable the government to track the demand and supply of climate change funds.