Bangladesh civil society demands fossil fuel phase-out
They asserted that the climate crisis, exacerbated by fossil fuel reliance, demands bold action now from the COP29 leaders
Bangladeshi civil society organisations (CSOs) called for a phase-out of fossil fuels, a revision of the current power master plan, adequate and sustainable climate finance, and a rapid transition to renewable energy sources.
This demand was made during a demonstration organised by a multinational coalition led by Waterkeepers Bangladesh, Youth Net for Climate Justice, Friends of the Earth, 350.org, Don't Gas Asia, and other groups, according to a press release issued today (15 November).
Bangladeshi CSOs asserted that the climate crisis, exacerbated by fossil fuel reliance, requires urgent and bold action from COP 29 leaders.
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Sharif Jamil, the coordinator of Waterkeepers Bangladesh, said, "Ammonia co-firing and hydrogen-based solutions are proposed in Bangladesh's energy master plan, or the Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan (IEPMP). We are urging the government to review the IEPMP and not focus on gas expansion; instead, they should focus on renewable energy expansion to protect Bangladesh's economy, ecology, and people."
Sohanur Rahman, the executive coordinator of Youth Net for Climate Justice, said, "In Bangladesh, we have fossil fuel-powered IEPMP. It's now high time to revise this and deploy a people-oriented energy master plan that will protect our climate and economy. The current energy master plan, or IEPMP, isn't very ambitious, and it has some loopholes like the carbon capture and hydrogen-based technologies that have been proposed. These are false solutions, and barriers to just energy transitions. So we are urging Bangladesh to come up with a new, revised IEPMP."
Amanullah Porag, South Asia mobilisations coordinator at 350.org, emphasised the need for a renewable energy-based transition and said, "Bangladesh needs to directly shift from fossil fuel to renewables. We need to phase out fossil fuels such as coal and LNG because they are expensive. Gas is giving us debt, economic instability, climate loans, and a climate crisis. Bangladesh's power master plan is heavily backed by Japan and does not support energy transition; rather, it locks us into expensive imported fossil fuels and false solutions in the name of advanced technologies."
COP 29 is the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties, being held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from 11 to 22 November 2024.
