The United States is the second largest greenhouse gas emitting country in the world while fourth largest per capita emitter among the Annex-1 countries. It is also the historically highest emitting country. As the US policymakers’ role is crucial to ensure a greener earth, most of the important international climate related instruments have been taken with consent of the United States. But historically it escaped from due responsibility by not signing up to the Kyoto Protocol and withdrew itself from the Paris Agreement.
After winning in the election of 2020, US president Joe Biden took the decision to return the United States to the Paris Agreement on the first day in office. Consequently he called for a conference called “Leaders Summit on Climate” on 22-23 April 2021 and invited 40 global leaders to join the Summit. The honorable prime ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan and India from South Asian countries are invited among others.
The thematic areas of the summit are: (i) Galvanizing efforts by the world’s major economies to reduce emissions; (ii) mobilizing public and private sector finance to drive the net-zero transition; (iii) transition to a new clean energy economy; (iv) Spurring transformational technologies that can help reduce emissions and adapt to climate change; (v) showcasing subnational and non-state actors that are committed to green recovery and an equitable vision for limiting warming to 1.5 degree celsius; and (vi) discussing opportunities to strengthen capacity to protect lives and livelihoods from the impacts of climate change.
But there are outcries for ambitious emission reduction by the United States economy, both nationally and internationally, divest from fossil fuel without making any late, contribute equitable share in the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as pledged, reparation for loss and damage, technology transfer to the developing countries for adaptation and mitigation, stop all types of market-based solutions and ensure community-ownership in the green recovery. United States has also responsibility to support the developing countries through finance and policy support to reach 100% renewables globally.
To raise the demands jointly, Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED), Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED), NGO Forum on ADB, Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ), Sri Lanka; Digo Bikas Institute (DBI), Nepal; Growthwatch, India; Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee (PKRC) and Participatory Research Action Network (PRAN), Bangladesh jointly organized a #People2Biden Conference with participation of friends, colleagues and like-minded activists from South Asian Countries.
South Asian climate activists including Hematha Withanage from Sri Lanka, Vidya Dinker from India, Saima Zia from Pakistan, Nurul Alam Masud from Bangladesh, Avishek Sreshtha from Nepal, Aisha Niyaz from Maldives and many others will raise the demands from respective countries.
How can you help:
- Join us on Zoom Meeting room through registration
- Post the circulation and news on your social media with hashtag #People2Biden
- Circulate the announcement and invite friends and colleagues to join with us
For any clarification, please write: bwged.bd@gmail.com