Climate expert Prof Dr Saleemul Huq says that the international community must act and support the worst affected and least responsible nations with "funding and solutions" to deal with climate change impacts. Climate change unequally impacts vulnerable nations and indiscriminately creates global crises causing chaos, new poverty and violation of human rights. “COP27 must make good on this agenda,” said Prof Saleemul, Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) expert advisory group, speaking at a report launching event on Wednesday.   The flagship report entitled “Climate Vulnerability Monitor, 3rd edition: A Planet on Fire”, commissioned by the CVF and the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Ministers of Finance of the CVF presented stark proof that climate change impacts generate loss and damage, globally creating crises for society, human health and development. Prof Saleemul said the Climate Vulnerability Monitor provides them with the anatomy of the loss and damage the world now lives with because of decades of insufficient climate inaction by rich, powerful and responsible countries. He said the detailed impact data and evidence presented by the CVM3 provides sobering reading on just how bad the situation already is, and how much worse it will become with fast rising global health risks, extreme heat events, and economic shocks, to name a few. Read more: Bangladesh to be voice of climate vulnerable countries: FM “Loss and damage have become the biggest risk to global prosperity in the present age,” Prof Saleemul quoted as saying in a message received from Accra, Ghana.   Disclosing comprehensive new data on the impact of climate change, the report also highlighted the asymmetric consequences for society which deepen global inequalities with poorer and more vulnerable nations the hardest hit. Ban Ki-moon, Chairman of the Board of Global Center on Adaptation and 8th UN secretary-general, said with this third edition “CVM” they see clearly just how much humanity finds itself at the crossroads. Sadly, we have become a “Planet on Fire”, as the report’s title highlights. Read more: "Loss and damage has become the biggest risk to global prosperity in the present age" “If we do not act now, by the end of the century, millions of lives would be lost every single year because of scorching heat,” said the former UN secretary general.  

Stakeholders will have to develop innovative and smart solutions for managing plastic waste in Bangladesh, LGRD Minister Md Tazul Islam said Saturday. "Waste collection is now not considered to be sustainable as it is still not viewed as a business proposition," he added while speaking at the seminar "Enabling policy for sustainable plastic waste management" in Dhaka. An effective solution would be the circular system, which ensures the consumption of plastic does not increase and moves towards a sustainable waste management model, Tazul said. "We must also empower the value chain actors and provide holistic support to the informal sector, comprising the micro-entrepreneurs, scrap dealers and waste pickers. This informal yet important sector must be facilitated and a proper structure should be developed for our own sake," he added. Read: Deal signed to set up waste-based power plant in Narayanganj "The government's Vision 2041 has incorporated plastic waste management in its sustainable urbanisation goals," Senior Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office Md Tofazzal Hossain Miah said at the programme jointly organised by the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) and Unilever Bangladesh. Unilever Bangladesh CEO and Managing Director Zaved Akhtar and FBCCI President Md Jasim Uddin also spoke.