Civil Society Organizations (CSO) attending COP27 from climate vulnerable countries including Bangladesh have expressed disappointment at the results of this year’s climate conference. Read: COP27: Bangladesh urges developed nations to double provision of adaptation finance by 2025 In a press conference titled “LDC’s & MVC Peoples’ expectations and CoP27” held at the meeting room of the conference center, civil society representatives demanded the big polluters for a commitment to achieve the 1.5-degree temperature goal by 2050 and immediate declaration from developed countries on the issue of Loss and Damage Finance Facility within COP27 negotiation period. The press event was attended by CSO leaders from various climate vulnerable countries, including Ali Akbor Tipu (Panel Mayor, Khulna City Corporation), Shamim Arefin (AOSED), Dr. Mostafa Sarwar (Professor KUET), Soumya Datta (Fellow, Ashoka Research Foundation, India), Prayash Adhikari (DigBikas Institute, Nepal), Samah Hadid of NRC (Norwegian Refugee Council) and Atle Solberg- Head of the Secretariat of PDD (Platform of Disaster Displacement). Read: COP27: Momen thanks Egypt for focusing on "loss and damage" issue The keynote speech was provided by Aminul Hoque (EquityBD) from Bangladesh. During the keynote, Aminul said, “Developed countries should keep their promise to achieve the 1.5-degree goal. They should declare Loss & Damage Financing Facility without any delay as they have a moral debt to pay by upholding their fair share of mitigation and adaptation.” Aminul added that the rich countries should start the work of framing the Global Goal on Adaptation followed by the UNFCCC convention and the Paris Agreement immediately.  

Civil society organisations (CSOs) on Wednesday demanded transparency and accountability in the pilotage and repair of dredgers used in river excavation and regular silt removal. They also demanded the formation of an independent probe committee to report on the irregularities and corruption in the sector in the last three years to stop the misuse and wastage of public funds. Twenty-three representatives of different non-government organisations came up with the demand in a joint statement. According to the statement, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) dredges rivers and regularly removes sediments from waterways to maintain navigable waterways. For this, the BIWTA has the required number of vessels, including 45 dredgers. There are separate dredger bases under BIWTA's dredging department to maintain, operate and repair these. The CSO representatives said there are allegations of widespread financial irregularities and corruption in the management and repair of dredgers and auxiliary vessels. They demanded the formation of an independent investigation committee of experts from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and the Bangladesh Marine Academy to investigate irregularities and corruption. Also, to ensure transparency and accountability, the CSO representatives demanded the disclosure of sector-wise expenditures to the media and the public online every month. Read more: NCPSRR wants transparency in river dredging, silt removal The signatories of the statement are Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Vice-President SM Nazar Hossain, Freedom Fighter Nurur Rahman Salim, Nagorik Udyog Chief Executive Zakir Hossain, Udichi Shilpa Goshthi General Secretary Amit Ranjan Dey, Green Club of Bangladesh Executive President Mohammad Shahid Mia, former general secretary of Dhaka Reporters Unity Raju Ahmed, National Committee to Protect Shipping, Roads and Railways General Secretary Ashis Kumar Dey, and marine engineer Abdul Hamid. Coordinator of Sundarban and Upokul Surokkha Andolon Nikhil Chandra Bhadra, Vice-President of Dhaka Sangbadik Union Manik Lal Ghosh, Executive Director of Poverty Immunization Assistance Center for Everywhere Ifma Hussain, Member Secretary of Unyanan Dhara Trust Aminur Rasul Babul, President of Alokita Garments Sramik Federation Bappidev Borman, Executive Director of Dwip Unnoyan Sangstha Rafiqul Alam, Executive Director of Media Forum for Human Rights and Environmental Development Rafiqul Islam Sabuj also signed the statement. Bangladesh Hawkers Union General Secretary Shekender Hayat, Writer Rajan Bhattacharya, Central Coordinator of Janalok Rafiqul Islam Sujan, Convener of Sachetan Sangstha Shakila Parveen, President of Committee to Protect River and Coast Kamruzzaman Nashim, Joint Secretary of Dhaka North City Citizen Forum Mostafa Kamal Akand, President of Old Dhaka Nagorik Udyog Nazim Uddin and Convenor of Mukti Shikha Jihad Arif are the other signatories. Also read: Dredger capsized during Sitrang: Bodies of 8 workers recovered  

Civil society organisations (CSOs) Thursday urged the government to ensure that loss and damage finance is on the formal agenda of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt. As one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, Bangladesh also should strongly support the legally binding commitment to a "zero emission" target followed by a "maximum 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature" goal.  The civil society leaders made the demand at the seminar "COP-27: Government Position and Civil Societies Opinion" in Dhaka Thursday. The seminar was jointly organised by COAST foundation, An Organization for Socio-Economic Development (AOSED), Centre for Participatory Research and Development (CPRD) Coastal Development Partnership (CDP), Centre for Sustainable Rural Livelihood (CSRL), Equity and Justice Working Group, and Bangladesh (EquityBD). Loss and damage mainly refers to the impacts of climate change that cannot be (or have not been) avoided through mitigation or adaptation. In addition to economic losses and damages to households, communities, infrastructure, and industries like agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and tourism, it also encompasses noneconomic losses to lives, cultures, and territories. Read: Civil society needs 'space, enabling conditions': Bachelet Syed Aminul Hoque of EquityBD said COP27 is crucial as the developed countries are trying to breach all of  their previous commitments and tend to bypass the basic principles of the Paris Agreement. "They have put forward new concepts like net zero emission, New Collective and Quantified Goal on Finance. These vague or elusive concepts proposed by the developed countries are deeply inequitable and do not commensurate with meaningful reductions of global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius under the Paris Agreement," he added.  Sharif Jamil, general secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa), suggested the government take a clear stance against net zero compliance in COP27 as Bangladesh has no commitment to this concept except zero emission by 2050. Ziaul Hoque Mukta of CSRL demanded a separate regime for climate-induced displacement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in COP negotiation, he said.

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen has highlighted the implementation of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) Development Agency-Dhaka Development Initiative (IORDA-DDI) to promote regional integration, economic and sustainable development in the region. The initiative by IORA chair Bangladesh aims to establish an IORA development agency to facilitate tangible national or regional-level developmental projects. Masud Bin Momen was delivering the concluding remarks on the final day of the two-day 12th bi-annual meeting of the Committee of the Senior Officials (CSO) of IORA held in Cox's Bazar Friday. Around 50 delegates from 21 IORA members attended the meeting. Masud Bin Momen led the Bangladesh delegation. The foreign secretary emphasised the role of IORA in promoting sustainable growth and balanced development for regional and global development and security. He urged the IORA members to formulate and implement projects for economic cooperation relating to trade facilitation and liberalisation, promotion of investment, and scientific and technological exchanges. Masud Bin Momen underscored the significance of developing ocean economies that are sustainable, equitable and resilient. Mentioning the blue recovery as integral to this process, he urged all to prioritise this opportunity for a blue stimulus. The meeting discussed the progress made to date under the six priority areas and two cross-cutting and financial issues of the association. Read: IORA: India greets member states, dialogue partners marking 25th anniversary Member states also discussed preparations for upcoming events and meetings of IORA's institutional mechanisms as well as the association's engagement with its international partners and special programmes. Also, the meeting provided an opportunity for them to discuss preparations for future IORA events and meetings, taking into consideration the impact of Covid in the past two years. Masud Bin Momen invited all to join the next COS and Council of Ministers' meetings in November this year, to be hosted by Bangladesh as chair.

Twenty one Bangladeshi civil society organizations working on migration and development demanded release and protection of Mohammad Rayhan Kabir who was arrested in Malaysia for speaking in a documentary broadcasted by Al Jazeera.