Tackling climate change: NbS can enhance LLA
Two concepts related to climate change – Locally-Led Adaptation (LLA) and Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) – have gained significant momentum over the last couple of years. Both allow us to define potential ways to combat the climate crisis. But at the same time, these are causing some confusion and misunderstanding among the stakeholders working on climate action, which need to be demystified. Let's start with the NbS. To fight climate change, we must bring the global carbon emission down to net zero. To do that, in addition to inventing and using technologies to shift from using fossil fuels to renewables, we can also rely on nature and ecosystems. We can remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, for example, by planting diverse mangrove saplings on the new chars along our coastline. Similarly, we can re-green degraded ecosystems, like the denuded hills of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), to capture carbon. We can also reduce the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by improving the ecologically-critical area around the Sundarbans or by sustainably managing Hakaluki Haor, for instance. Protecting nature can also help us survive the long-term impacts of climate change. If we conserve the hills' tree cover, it will ensure water supply even if there are more rainless days in the coming decades. And nobody knows better than Bangladesh how the Sundarbans and the coastal green belt have been protecting our lives and assets from cyclones.
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.