UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change Ian Fry has said the major greenhouse emitting countries have a clear obligation under international law to provide funding to help highly vulnerable countries like Bangladesh to recover from the impacts of climate change, reports UNB.
"Bangladesh should not have to carry the burden of climate change alone," the UN expert said on Thursday, calling for an international fund to help the South Asian country to recover from the impacts of extreme weather events.
He visited some of the most adversely affected regions of Bangladesh and said it is clear to him that the burden of climate change should not be carried by Bangladesh alone.
“For too long, major emitting countries have denied their responsibility for the suffering they are causing. This must end," said the UN Special Rapporteur.
In a statement at the end of his 10-day visit to Bangladesh to study the impact of climate change in the South Asian nation, Fry said the international community must immediately establish a loss and damage fund to finance the recovery of climate change-affected States.
Fry said women carried an enormous burden of climate change impacts, walking long distances to fetch fresh water, which put them at risk of sexual harassment and kept them from childcare and farming.
According to the Special Rapporteur, women lost livestock, crops and stored seeds in the flash floods of Sylhet, in northeast Bangladesh, and it would take the community at least two years to fully recover.
During his visit, the UN expert held meetings online with indigenous peoples who expressed grave concerns about their future, as the logging of their land was destroying traditional livelihoods and making it harder to find freshwater, food and medicine.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
