World major economies should remain honest to avert climate crisis: PM Hasina

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said the world's major economies should exercise honesty about climate change to avoid the impending crisis.

“We expect the world’s major economies to remain honest about climate change and do their fair share to avert the impending crisis," she said.

The prime minister made the remarks in a "High Level Thematic Session of Climate Ambition Summit on “Delivering Climate Justice: Accelerating Ambition and Implementation on Adaptation and Early Warnings for All" at ECOSOC Chamber in New York, USA.

The Premier arrived in New York on September 17 to attend the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The premier said Bangladesh’s experience demonstrated that investing in adaptation and early warning makes perfect sense.

"We hope our development partners will seize these opportunities to deliver climate justice," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said that Bangladesh has joined this session to lend support to two initiatives by the UN secretary-general.

As a climate justice advocate, she said Bangladesh stands ready to align with any constructive move that advances the agenda.

The prime minister said that Bangladesh has requested the UN system to conduct a tabletop exercise on nationwide earthquake modelling.

She said they are working on Bangladesh's second satellite, Bangabandhu II, as an Earth Observatory.

"Bangladesh is willing to share its expertise with other vulnerable countries through South-South and triangular cooperation," she said.

She also expressed her hope that “early warnings for all” will be able to encourage MDBs and IFIs to join such efforts.

The premier mentioned that Bangladesh had reduced fatalities to a single digit compared to the millions that perished during the Bhola Cyclone in 1970.

"We have one of the world’s largest community volunteer programmes comprising 65,000 coastal people," she said.

Bangladesh's latest National Plan for Disaster Management has adopted an integrated multi-hazard early warning approach, the prime minister said.

"We are using mobile technology to provide regular updates on weather forecasts," she said.