Narayanganj adopts climate action plan as Bangladesh’s first city
As pale fumes billowed from a factory in the Bandar neighbourhood of Narayanganj and clouded the afternoon sky, tea-stall owner Riad, 21, explained how dust and other pollution from local industries are harming crops and residents' wellbeing.
"People here suffer from respiratory and health problems," he said. "At night, noise and shaking caused by the local power plant disturb people's sleep." Narayanganj city - a major industrial hub just to the south of Dhaka that produces most of the country's knitwear exports - has the third-worst air quality in Bangladesh, according to a survey last year by Stamford University. Manufacturing and construction, meanwhile, account for 58 per cent of the city's planet-warming emissions, showed an assessment by the South Asia branch of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, an international body that helps cities with green policies. Major sources of pollution include the city's seven cement factories, 70 to 80 illegal brick kilns and a number of steel mills, said Moinul Islam, town planner for Narayanganj City Corporation. Narayanganj Mayor Salina Hayat Ivy, the first woman to head a city corporation in Bangladesh, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation she had asked cement and lime factories to relocate away from residential neighbourhoods. In April, the city corporation approved an action plan for low-carbon, climate-resilient development, supported by ICLEI, making Narayanganj the first Bangladeshi city to adopt such a plan, said Jubaer Rashid, Bangladesh representative for ICLEI South Asia, reports Reuters.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.