Climate Change Policy Negotiations

Can Bangladesh play a leading role?

Dr. Saleemul Huq

AFP

The recently concluded fifteenth conference of parties (COP 15) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Copenhagen, Denmark in December 2009, ended very unsatisfactorily from the point of view of many parties, including Bangladesh. Nevertheless, as the objective of COP15 was to agree on global policy on climate change after the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol ends in 2012, there is still some time left for the work to be completed. The sixteenth conference of parties (COP16) will now be held in December 2010 in Cancun, Mexico and then COP17 will be held in South Africa in December 2011. Thus there is still time to engage in the global negotiations process to try to achieve an ambitious outcome, even if this was not possible in Copenhagen. It is also possible for Bangladesh to try to play a leading role in this process over the next year or two.

However, first it is useful to assess, dispassionately, the role that Bangladesh has been able to play so far, in order to see how this can be built on and improved going forward. My own assessment of Bangladesh's role so far would be to say that Bangladesh certainly played a “prominent “role but far from a “leading” role. Let me explain what I mean by that.

The government of Bangladesh has been involved in the intensive round of almost non-stop negotiations leading up to COP15 in December, very actively within the group of least developed countries (LDCs) of which it a key member, as well as the larger developing countries group known as the G77+China. In Copenhagen the Bangladesh delegation numbered nearly a hundred delegates, including not only senior government officials, several Ministers and even the Prime Minister, but also a number of Members of Parliament (including from opposition parties), media representatives, experts and NGOs. This inclusion of non-governmental actors in the official Bangladesh delegation is indeed a good sign as on this issue there is (or should be) no difference between the government and opposition or with civil society (at least at the international level). They were very active in highlighting Bangladesh's position as a vulnerable country as well as the action that the country is undertaking on tackling climate change (which are indeed very laudable).

However, banging one's own drum (however, effectively) does not endear a country to its allies within the LDC Group or other vulnerable countries and they certainly felt that Bangladesh was only promoting itself (at the expense of the others in the group). In order to be a leader, a country (and its delegates) must earn the trust of others, who will acknowledge them as leaders (in other words, leaders need willing followers!). Unfortunately, by promoting itself the opportunity to gain the trust of others was undermined. Hence, while no doubt, playing a prominent role, the country was unable to play a truly leadership role.

However, that does note mean that it cannot do so going forward over the coming two years. It certainly can, if it takes a number of actions including the following:

AFP

Appoint a high level special envoy for climate change
Many countries have appointed high level Climate Change Envoys who are permanently charged with negotiating on their country's behalf on climate change. I have argued for some time that climate change is an important enough issue for Bangladesh to also appoint such a High Level Special Envoy on Climate Change to be the permanent leader of the delegation at all such negotiations. It is still not too late to do this, as the game has not ended at Copenhagen but continues to Mexico this year and South Africa a year later.

Climate change will remain central for Bangladesh for many years (if not decades) to come and investing in such a High Level Special Envoy who has the trust of the Prime Minister and the requisite diplomatic (rather than technical) background and skills, along with a team from the relevant ministries, is essential even now. It will also have to take a more nuanced and leading role on behalf of the vulnerable countries of which it is one (however, insisting that Bangladesh is the “most vulnerable “ country is counter-productive if we wish to work with other vulnerable countries).

Take initiative within Vulnerable Countries Forum
In November, 2009, President Nasheed of the Maldives initiated a Vulnerable Countries Forum, with a number of leaders from LDCs, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Africa at a meeting on Bandos island in the Maldives. Although the Prime Minister of Bangladesh was unable to attend the meeting herself due to her pre-arranged trip to Bhutan, she sent two Ministers (Foreign Affairs and Environment) and supported the resulting Bandos Island Declaration. The next meeting of the group will be hosted by President Tong of Kiribati and it is an opportunity for Bangladesh to take a leading role. The Prime Minister should seriously consider attending the meeting in Kiribati in 2010 (and perhaps offer to host the next meeting after that in 2011).

Highlight adaptation and low carbon growth rather than vulnerability
An important element of the strategy going forward for these vulnerable countries is to no longer highlight their vulnerability alone (it has been hammered to death and is no longer productive to do so ad nauseum) but rather trumpet their actions (both on adaptation as well as on mitigation or low Carbon growth). This is where they can gain the moral high ground and shame other countries (both the developed countries as well as the large developing countries who have become major polluters now) into action.

Spend climate change money wisely
Finally, with regard to gaining financial support from any new international adaptation funds, Bangladesh needs to make the case for getting its due share based on its performance and ability to do the right things with transparency and good governance, rather than staking an a priori claim for a certain share. By proving that Bangladesh can use money well, it will get more than its fair share without having to stake a claim to it in competition with others.

Conclusion
Bangladesh certainly has the potential capability of playing a leading role amongst the fellow-vulnerable countries on the issue of climate change if it plays to its strengths which include capable officials, ministers and a committed Prime Minister as well as many experts and NGOs who are involved both at home as well as well-networked internationally. The need of the hour is to build on those capabilities with a strategy of playing a pro-active role at the international level in coming years.

The author is Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) in London, United Kingdom and the Director-designate of the new International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD).

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