World leaders, climate experts, and campaigners from 130 countries gathered in Sharm El Sheikh from 6-18 November 2022 to attend the 27th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27) hosted by the African country Egypt. This conference was arranged as part of the commitment to make climate actions related collective decisions and review progress aligned to the Paris Agreement of COP21.
Mohammad Shahjahan, Deputy Director (Head)-KM4D department and Focal Person of Climate Change and Displacement Issues participated in the COP27 of UNFCCC representing YPSA (Young Power in Social Action), as an observer organization from Bangladesh. In addition, he has participated different events and plenary sessions to share YPSA’s lessons and experiences that were learned and gathered through working on climate justice-related projects.
With the joint initiative of YPSA (Young Power in Social Action), Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) / Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (BARCIK), there was a side event took place on “Global Goal on Adaptation: Delivering Justice to the Vulnerable Communities and Countries” on 9th November 2022. Mr. Shahjahan was one of the panelists of this side event.
In this event, Mohammad Shahjahan presented the research finding of the Status and Scenario of Climate Change Induced Displaced People and rehabilitation initiatives of the YPSA in South-Eastern Bangladesh. The presentation entitled ‘Global Goal on Adaptation: Strengthening Resilience and Reducing Vulnerability: Case Study of YPSA Initiative’.
Mr. Shahjahan stated in his presentation that “coastal erosion has become a common phenomenon due to sea level rise along with sudden on set events like cyclone, floods in Bangladesh, forcing people to displace and migrate. He pointed out how natural calamities have forced thousands of families to move from one region to another, and erosion destroys standing crops, farmland, and homestead lands every year, affecting millions of people in South Asia. YPSA experienced that the participation of local communities is essential for sustainable adaptation. He also spoke in the side event on Addressing loss & damage to deliver climate justice: youth, gender & faith leaders’ perspectives.
During his speech, Mohammad Shahjahan reiterated some recommendations such as Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) should be a permanent agenda item in the UNFCC, Climate forced displacement and migration issues should be treated as separate agenda items under UNFCCC and there should have a legal framework at the international level to deal climate forced displacement from a human rights perspective.
Mohammad Shahjahan also attended the partners meeting of the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF) in Sharm El Sheikh and shared the progress, challenges and opportunities for implementing the loss and damage initiative in the south-eastern coast of Bangladesh.
