Copenhagen climate convention and int’l environment court
This map shows total carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel burning, cement production, and gas flaring for the world's countries in 2000. Emissions are expressed in million metric tons of carbon. The map was created by a team of climate and health scientists led by Jonathan Patz, associate professor of environmental studies and population health sciences at UW-Madison. Map courtesy the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.
In a recent chilling assessment, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that human-induced changes in the Earth’s climate now lead to at least 5 million cases of illness and more than 150,000 deaths every year.
Temperature fluctuations may sway human health in a surprising number of ways, scientists have learned, from influencing the spread of infectious diseases to boosting the likelihood of illness-inducing heat waves and floods
AS the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at Copenhagen draws closer, it is worthwhile to review once again what is at stake for us and to clearly articulate the position that Bangladesh needs to take in the various phases of negotiations. The prime minister will attend the Convention, which may well define the fate of our country in the near future, and is expected to present the case of Bangladesh and similar countries that will be affected in various ways by climate change.
One reason the citizens of Bangladesh consider this Convention so important for our future is that it might set the tone for the development strategy we will pursue for transition to a low carbon economy, and the support we can expect to receive from the global community to adopt low-carbon technologies and to combat the deleterious effects of global warming.
Bangladesh group calls for int’l environment court
The Bangladesh-based Citizen Network on Climate Change is calling for an international court on the environment.
The pressure group, at an open meeting in Dhaka this week, also stressed that the public must have a say on climate change plans at policy level.
Short and long term measures must ensure policy makers were more accountable to the public with respect to measures for combating the grave outcome of global warming, said the group.
They also asked their government to clarify Bangladesh’s stand in the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Conference, alongside ensuring the participation of common people in setting policy regarding climate change.
Calling for an international environmental court, they said it was urgent for checking the nations most responsible for climate change, they said.
The court would try environmental crimes and take steps against guilty states or companies responsible for high emissions and other forms of global pollution so that affected countries could get compensation, said the group.
Power of the most influential states must also be curtailed to prevent them from vetoing any lawful decision regarding global climate change, they said.
The idea of an international court for the environment has also been proposed by concerned groups in other countries in the lead-up to the Copenhagen conference this December.
A group of UK lawyers are leading a campaign for a body, similar to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, that would be the supreme legal authority on issues regarding the environment.
They also suggest that the first role of the new body would be to enforce international agreements on cutting greenhouse gas emissions set to be agreed in December.
The UN Conference of Parties (COP15) in Copenhagen next month aims to secure a new agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol. Developing countries are looking to developed nations to commit to cutting emissions drastically.
The Bangladesh group, in its meeting this week, also called for a UN commission on climate change to push for adoption of environment friendly technologies, among other measures.
International efforts need to be reinforced to explore renewable alternative fuels and technologies and their availability to poor and vulnerable countries, said the group.
They also called on their government to adopt feasible short term and long term strategies to ensure rehabilitation, food security and health care for the affected population.
The public meeting was chaired by executive director of INCIDIN Bangladesh, AKM Mostaque Ali, at the organisation’s office on Sunday.
Related Posts :
