US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate H.E. Mr. John Kerry’s visit to Bangladesh on 9 April 2021

Meeting between Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh, H.E. Sheikh Hasina, and US Special Envoy for Climate, H.E. John Kerry.

Meeting between Hon’ble Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, H.E. Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen, MP, and US Special Envoy for Climate, H.E. John Kerry.

Joint Press Conference

Group picture following luncheon

The following statement was released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh for the Presidency of the Climate Vulnerable Forum:

US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate H.E. Mr. John Kerry visited Bangladesh on 9 April 2021 to handover the invitation of the Hon’ble President of the United States of America to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bangladesh H.E. Sheikh Hasina to attend the “Leaders Summit on Climate” to be held virtually on 22-23 April 2021. Hon’ble President Joe Biden has invited 40 world leaders to that summit.

During his visit, H.E. Mr. John Kerry called on the Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and held meetings with H.E. Dr. A.K. Abdul Momen, MP, Hon’ble Foreign Minister, H.E. Mr. Md. Shahab Uddin, MP, Hon’ble Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and H.E. Mr. Md. Shahriar Alam, MP, Hon’ble State Minister for Foreign Affairs. Mr. Kerry also attended a luncheon meeting where Hon’ble Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs H.E. Mr. Muhammad Faruk Khan, MP, Hon’ble Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change H.E. Mr. Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP, and Special Envoy of Bangladesh CVF Presidency Mr. Abul Kalam Azad were present among others.

During these meetings, Mr. John Kerry highly appreciated Bangladesh’s excellent adaptation and mitigation efforts. He said that Bangladesh showed admirable resilience to climate change despite development challenges it has been managing mightily.  He also praised Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her leadership in the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF). In their discussions, conversations focused on strategies that can accelerate implementation of the Paris Agreement with ambitious action to limit global warming at 1.5 degree Celsius. The issue of more aggressive Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by all countries, particularly the major emitters, was discussed. In the meetings, Bangladesh dignitaries stressed the importance of reaching the target of 100 billion US dollars mobilized annually to address the challenges of climate change, including the balance of 50:50 funding for mitigation and adaptation efforts. Hon’ble Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr. Momen also sought support of the US for the regional office of the Global Centre for Adaptation (GCA), recently established in Dhaka for promoting locally led adaptation solutions. He explained the different initiatives by Bangladesh, including the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan, and sought US support in implementing the Plan, focused in particular on rapidly developing the country’s renewable energy sector. The issue of support for displacement of people because of river erosion, sea-level rise and increasing salinity was also discussed.

U.S. Special Presidential Envoy also expressed interest to work more closely with Bangladesh and other climate vulnerable countries to advance climate resilience and adaptation and raise ambition for mitigation action in the lead up to COP26. On the side of Bangladesh, officials requested for the high level presence of U.S. government officials at the CVF-COP26 event, planned to be held on the sidelines of the COP26 to secure a recovery package for the climate vulnerable countries. The issue of “loss and damage” due to climatic events was also raised with emphasis on the need to commence discussion on the creation of an appropriate framework to address the needs of climate refugees.

*******