Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
It is a pleasure to be here at Saint John’s for the 4th UN Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Conference. We felicitate the co-facilitators, UN-DESA and UN-OHRLLS for finalizing the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS).
Mr. President,
[Bangladesh’s Commitment to SIDS]
Bangladesh is attending this Conference to reaffirm our solidarity with SIDS, as personally espoused by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. As a traditional spokesperson for the least developed countries (LDCs), Bangladesh has always made efforts to highlight the issues of particular concern for the LDCs among SIDS. In our capacity as President of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) twice, we have given priority to flagging the existential threats faced by SIDS due to aggravating climate impacts, sea-level rise, ocean acidification and extreme weather events. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we reached out with our modest means to support SIDS in our immediate neighbourhood. We stand ready to share our home-grown and innovative solutions for climate adaptation with SIDS and other vulnerable countries.
Mr. President,
[Supporting International Cooperation on Climate for SIDS]
This Conference gives us yet another opportunity to help address the structural challenges that continue to compromise SIDS’ efforts at sustainable, inclusive and resilient development. It is critical that the advanced and large emitting economies take further ambitious, time-bound and accountable commitments to curbing their greenhouse gas emissions so that the most vulnerable countries like SIDS can still be spared catastrophic consequences. The next UNFCCC COP29 in Baku must deliver on the anticipated climate financing commitment beyond 2025, with focus on building the adaptive capacity of climate vulnerable countries.
In 2022, we joined forces with Vanuatu and others in seeking an Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on ascertaining States’ differentiated liabilities for addressing climate change. We also join the growing call for meaningful reforms in the lending criteria and benchmarks of international financial institutions to cater to the needs of SIDS at different levels of development. The newly established Loss and Damage Fund, along with other funding mechanisms, must find ways to make climate financing easily accessible to SIDS and other countries with capacity constraints.
Mr. President,
[Climate change and human mobility; climate and security; climate and health]
The issue of human mobility triggered by climate crisis could prove to be a major risk multiplier for most SIDS as well as climate vulnerable populous countries like Bangladesh. The far-reaching impact of climate change on human security makes a compelling case for the UN Security Council and other relevant fora to give added attention to their interface, without essentially securitizing the issue. It is certainly a positive move to have focused deliberations on climate and health, as it happened at COP28, including for facilitating affordable access to diagnosis and treatment of neglected tropical or non-communicable diseases disproportionately affecting many SIDS.
We expect to have an evidence-based on all these inter-related issues at this year’s UN General Assembly High-level Meeting on Sea Level Rise, with focus on SIDS and low-lying coastal states. In consideration of adverse climate impacts on demographic resilience, our government invited Ministerial representatives from the Maldives and Kiribati at the ICPD30 Global Dialogue on Demographic Diversity and Sustainable Development held in Dhaka earlier this month.
Mr. President,
[Promoting Blue Economy and Combating Maritime Crimes]
We see opportunities for the proposed Centre of Excellence – aimed at promoting data, innovation and investment – would help build a sustainable Blue Economy for SIDS. In Bangladesh, we have recently announced scholarships for cadets from African LDCs and Caribbean and Pacific SIDS at our state-of-the-art Marine Academy. We also have scope for fostering cooperation in maritime domain awareness to combat transnational organized crimes, including irregular, unregulated and unauthorized fishing. We have common interest in building capacity for sustainably utilizing marine resources in Areas beyond national jurisdiction. We also stress the need for concluding negotiations on the special and differential treatment provisions for developing and least developed countries under the WTO Fisheries Subsidies Agreement.
Mr. President,
Distinguished delegates,
Under the visionary guidance of our Hon’ble Prime Minister, our government is now working towards shifting the narrative from climate vulnerability to resilience and prosperity as well as building a digitally empowered and inclusive ‘Smart Bangladesh’ by 2041. In course of our own national efforts and pursuits, we shall remain engaged with SIDS and other countries in the Global South to make sure that our peoples can forge ahead together in a digitally transformed, climate-positive future.
I thank you all.
Joi Bangla, Joi Bangabandhu