Dhaka, London hopeful of signing climate accord before COP26

Bangladesh and the United Kingdom are planning to sign a "climate accord" before COP26 and expressed optimism for a successful outcome of the COP26 with a possible CVF-COP26 event at Glasgow.   

The two countries agreed to work together to put nature at the heart of their climate action, building on the 2020 Leaders' Pledge for Nature and realising shared commitments towards conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as those under the Global Ocean Alliance and the Commonwealth Blue Charter.

As founding members of the Adaptation Action Coalition, Bangladesh and the UK renewed their commitment to work together with other Coalition members to accelerate adaptation on the ground with a particular emphasis on promoting locally led climate action, according to a joint statement.

The two countries will do more to avert, minimise, and address Loss and Damage, said the joint statement on climate action between the two countries.

Bangladesh and the UK will work together to get the network operating, following the UK-led Climate and Development Ministerial and drawing on the expertise in the UK, Bangladesh and internationally.

Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and COP26 President-Designate Alok Sharma met on Wednesday during the visit of COP26 President-designate to Bangladesh on June 2-4.

They jointly reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing cooperation between Bangladesh and the United Kingdom in tackling climate change's causes and adverse effects. 

They agreed to demonstrate sustained leadership to tackle the climate emergency bilaterally and globally.

The two countries agreed to exchange expertise, share technology, facilitate partnerships, and identify practical solutions to common climate challenges.

They expressed their resolve to work together to contribute to ensuring all countries meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement, and improve the resilience of those most vulnerable to climate change.

The two countries reaffirmed their strong and steadfast commitment to strengthening implementation of UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement.

They recognized the urgent need to make ambitious and accelerated efforts to limit average temperature rises to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, strengthen adaptation to the impacts of climate change, and scale up finance and support towards these ends.

They called for increased climate action in the lead up to the COP26 Summit, which will be held in Glasgow in November keeping in consideration the development needs of individual countries.

They highlighted their commitment to achieving an ambitious outcome at COP26, including through finalising the outstanding mandates of the Paris Rulebook.

The COP26 President-Designate underlined the importance of countries committing to achieving Net Zero emissions by the middle of the century, and for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) to be aligned with this.

The COP26 President-Designate welcomed the prospect of Bangladesh transitioning away from coal to clean and renewable energy, which will create economic growth and sustainable jobs.

The Foreign Minister of Bangladesh underscored the necessity of securing commitments from global leaders, especially the G20, to curb global emissions substantially, arrest global temperature at 1.5 degrees, secure maximal climate finance especially for adaptation and concrete actions on low-carbon technology transfer.

Bangladesh is committed to submitting an ambitious updated NDC in coming weeks, with a Net Zero target in the near future.

The UK COP26 Presidency and Bangladesh recognise the importance of developed countries delivering their collective climate finance goal to jointly mobilise US$100 billion annually by 2020 through to 2025 from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral and in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation, to address the needs of developing countries.

COP26 President-Designate welcomed Bangladesh's proactive leadership as the President of the Climate Vulnerable Forum and voicing the existential threats and extreme climate risks faced by 48 of the most climate vulnerable countries.

He welcomed Bangladesh's Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan and Decade 2030 for capturing growth and prosperity through maximal resilience.

The Foreign Minister commended the UK's dynamic leadership of COP26 and their special focus on mitigation, adaptation and resilience, climate financing and international cooperation. He also praised the UK for being the first major economy to declare Net Zero emissions by 2050.