A mayor from Bangladesh's capital Dhaka called for support to help migrants forced by climate change to leave rural areas and move to already overcrowded cities, at a UN conference in Bonn on Friday.
Atiqul Islam, who oversees the north of Dhaka, told the Bonn Climate Change Conference in western Germany that cities urgently need money to confront the “human cost” of climate change.
Negotiators at the Bonn gathering are preparing the ground for Cop28 in the UAE at the end of the year.
Mr Islam said rising temperatures could compound Dhaka's problems, as flooding endangers public health, while metal roofs of slum dwellings conduct heat – leading to sweltering conditions inside.
He told diplomats it was urgent for money to start flowing from a global “loss and damage” fund – money for climate-related impacts that are already happening or are inevitable.
This point on climate change funding for vulnerable cities was reflected in comments by UN Climate Change High-Level Champion for Cop28 Razan Al Mubarak.
Ms Al Mubarak, managing director of the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi, said the resources should not be seen “simply as a humanitarian effort, [but] really as a tool to build the local economy and local resilience”.
As funds are allocated, there should be an emphasis on building the local capacity to respond to reconstruction needs, she said.
“When you think about the roofs over their heads, the roofs need to be manufactured by the local community and by the local economy,” said Ms Al Mubarak.
The fund was agreed in principle at the Cop27 summit in Egypt last year, in what Mahmoud Mohieldin – who is also a UN climate change high-level champion for Cop28 – called a “political success and diplomatic victory”.
But the fund “has to be there with us soon”, Mr Mohieldin said in Bonn.
Mr Islam was applauded by delegates after describing how 2,000 people a day were arriving in Dhaka as they lose their farmland due to salinity and erosion.
While the city “cannot say ‘no, you can’t come in’”, it is experiencing the “human cost” of poor health, cramped living conditions and vulnerability to climate risks, he said.
Mr Islam described how Dhaka plans to limit the risks by planting trees over homes with metal roofs in slum areas to provide shade and has already held a first-of-its-kind fire drill for impoverished areas.
Another measure is a financial incentive for people who make a rooftop garden. The city also faces the risk that waste enters canals and rivers during flooding, causing “climate-induced costs to health”, Mr Islam said.
“Cities in the global south are unequivocally at the front line of climate-induced loss and damage,” he said.
“We need finance, finance and finance … not tomorrow, it has to be there today.”
The World Bank has estimated that low-lying Bangladesh could see more than 13 million climate migrants uprooted by flooding, drought or loss of farmland in the next 30 years.
Also facing the threat of tropical cyclones, it is regarded as one of the world’s most vulnerable countries as the window narrows to limit the worst effects of climate change by capping global warming at 1.5°C.
Rich countries have repeatedly been warned that their unauthorised migration problems could easily multiply, due to climate change making parts of the world uninhabitable.
To address this, Ms Al Mubarak said the aim was to highlight solutions that people affected by climate change are turning to.
She said this would allow for a “matchmaking exercise” between those affected and the public sector, private investors and philanthropic donors who want to support them in tackling climate change.
Working out details of the loss and damage pot, such as funding arrangements and a host city for officials, is expected to be a major theme of this year’s climate negotiations.
The initial agreement at Cop27 in Egypt was regarded as a significant breakthrough after rich countries had previously suggested existing funds were sufficient or baulked at admitting liability for climate change.
Loss and damage is one of three main strands of UN-backed climate action, along with mitigation – which means reducing emissions to slow global warming, and adaptation, which means adjusting to life in a warmer climate.
The Cop28 summit begins in Expo City Dubai on November 30.
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Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
Haircare resolutions 2021
From Beirut and Amman to London and now Dubai, hairstylist George Massoud has seen the same mistakes made by customers all over the world. In the chair or at-home hair care, here are the resolutions he wishes his customers would make for the year ahead.
1. 'I will seek consultation from professionals'
You may know what you want, but are you sure it’s going to suit you? Haircare professionals can tell you what will work best with your skin tone, hair texture and lifestyle.
2. 'I will tell my hairdresser when I’m not happy'
Massoud says it’s better to offer constructive criticism to work on in the future. Your hairdresser will learn, and you may discover how to communicate exactly what you want more effectively the next time.
3. ‘I will treat my hair better out of the chair’
Damage control is a big part of most hairstylists’ work right now, but it can be avoided. Steer clear of over-colouring at home, try and pursue one hair brand at a time and never, ever use a straightener on still drying hair, pleads Massoud.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
Fatherland
Kele Okereke
(BMG)
Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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Company%20profile
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The Bio
Name: Lynn Davison
Profession: History teacher at Al Yasmina Academy, Abu Dhabi
Children: She has one son, Casey, 28
Hometown: Pontefract, West Yorkshire in the UK
Favourite book: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Favourite Author: CJ Sansom
Favourite holiday destination: Bali
Favourite food: A Sunday roast
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
More on animal trafficking
Results:
Men's wheelchair 800m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 1.44.79; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 1.45.88; 3. Isaac Towers (GBR) 1.46.46.
