Bangladesh PM denounces rich nations refusing responsibility on climate

Some of the world's most climate change affected countries are pushing to create a funding facility for "loss and damage" to be established at UN climate negotiations in November.

Low-lying Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable nations in the world to climate change, but has produced a minuscule amount of the emissions that have contributed to it.
AP

Low-lying Bangladesh is among the most vulnerable nations in the world to climate change, but has produced a minuscule amount of the emissions that have contributed to it.

The urgency of battling climate change is not being matched by the actions of countries responsible for emissions, Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh, has warned.

"They don't act. They can talk but they don't act," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said on Friday during a visit to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

Rich and developed countries "are the responsible ones for these damages, they should come forward," Hasina said, stressing that their lack of an effective response was "the tragedy".

"I know the rich countries, they want to become more rich and rich. They don't bother for others," she added.

This year's General Assembly featured repeated calls for climate justice.

The leader of island nation Vanuatu urged an international treaty against fossil fuels while the prime minister of Pakistan warned that floods that have swamped one-third of his country could happen elsewhere.

READ MORE: Pakistan seeks compensation from rich polluters after record floods

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Loss and damage compensation

The Paris accord called for $100 billion a year by 2020 from wealthy nations to help developing nations cope with climate change.

That year, $83.3 billion was committed, including through private sources, according to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development figures.

One key issue facing the next UN climate summit to take place in Egypt in November is whether wealthy nations also need to pay for losses and damages from climate change, not just for adaptation and mitigation.

The United States, EU and other rich nations that represent the bulk of historical greenhouse gas emissions have opposed the creation of a separate fund and agreed only to discuss the loss and damage issue through 2024.

On Tuesday, Denmark became the first country to offer the compensation to the most climate-vulnerable areas, pledging over $13 million to support developing nations that have experienced losses caused by climate disruptions.

Danish Development Minister Flemming Moller Mortensen made the pledge on the sidelines of the UNGA, saying the funds would go to the Sahel region in northwestern Africa and other fragile regions.

"It is grossly unfair that the world's poorest should suffer the most from the consequences of climate change, to which they have contributed the least," he said in a statement.

READ MORE: World paying 'horrific price' for fossil fuels folly - UN chief

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