President Nasheed Commences Work as CVF Ambassador for Ambition

The Government of Bangladesh released the text of the following statement for the presidency of the Climate Vulnerable Forum:

DHAKA, Bangladesh – 16 September 2020: Former President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives, currently serving as Speaker of the People’s Majlis of the Maldives, met with Bangladesh Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) Presidency Special Envoy Mr. Abul Kalam Azad, Officials from Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, CVF presidency and secretariat officials, and the Global Center on Adaptation, to begin President Nasheed’s work as the newly appointed CVF Thematic Ambassador for Ambition.

At the inception meeting this week for the work of President Nasheed as CVF Ambassador for Ambition, Special Envoy of the Bangladesh Presidency Abul Kalam Azad highlighted how President Nasheed founded the CVF in 2009, and was responsible for commencing the journey of this forum and communicated that HE Sheikh Hasina, the Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh and CVF Chair, looked forward to President Nasheed’s forthcoming engagement as a CVF Thematic Ambassador.

It was agreed that President Nasheed’s forthcoming work in engaging world leaders, policy and public outreach, and actions with parliaments and other partners for the CVF, would specifically focus on:

(1) Promoting delivery of enhanced Paris Agreement national contributions, or NDCs, by midnight on 31st of December 2020, a “survival deadline” for the CVF members;

(2) Working with interested governments to draw up Climate Prosperity Plans, that will deliver economic prosperity, while also progressively eliminating carbon emissions and building resilience especially through better deployment of nature-based solutions;

(3) Proposing technology hubs, to be located in CVF countries, to deal with hard to de-carbonize parts of the economy and to accelerate climate adaptation.

The CVF is an international partnership of 48 developing nations most threatened by a global climate emergency wherein Bangladesh exercises the current presidency of the Forum for the period 2020-2022.

So far 5 Thematic Ambassador including Former President Nasheed have been appointed to accelerate the function of CVF as well as to make it more effective using the intellect, wisdom, experience and expertise of the Ambassadors so that the goals of CVF can be achieved. The thematic Ambassadors are: Saima Wazed Hossain, a Bangladesh autism activist and Expert Advisory panel at World Health Organization’s  panel on mental health; Lorna Regina “Loren” Bautista Legarda, a Philippines politician, environmentalist, cultural worker, and former journalist currently serving as the representative of Antique and as a House Deputy Speaker; Tosi Mpanu-Mpanu, a senior negotiator for the Democratic Republic of Congo on climate issues; and, Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner an eminent poet and climate activist from the Marshall Islands and the nation’s Climate Envoy.

CVF & V20 member states:

Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Fiji, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Haïti, Honduras, Kenya, Kiribati, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Morocco, Nepal, Niger, Palau, Palestine*, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Senegal, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Tunisia, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Viet Nam and Yemen.

*As UN non-member observer state

President Nasheed Commences Work as CVF Ambassador for Ambition – PDF