Saber urges developed nations to keep climate pledges

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury on Tuesday called upon the developed nations to keep up their climate commitments.

Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, he stressed the need for fostering global solidarity and trust so that the momentum created through the UAE Consensus during COP28 can be built upon and solidified.

Saber Hossain highlighted that the commitments made at previous COPs thus far relating to emission cuts, means of implementation and adaptation finance have all remained unfulfilled, according to a message.

He observed that behind terms like "adaptation gap" and "financing gap" lays the fundamental “trust gap”.

The environment minister called for taking concerted efforts to bridge this trust deficit, asserting that COP28 prioritised building global trust and solidarity.

In pursuit of this goal and as the world prepares for COP29 in Baku later this year, he advocated for scaled-up and equitable distribution of funds for adaptation and addressing loss and damage.

All actions must be aligned to science and the absolute imperative of capping temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Saber said.

He asserted, “We must solve the problem of climate change faster than we are creating it.”

Ministers, climate experts and government high officials from different countries around the world were present on the occasion.