Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulla Shahid has welcomed the appointment Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed as Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF)’s Thematic Ambassador for Ambition as a key milestone in ensuring stronger climate action.
The foreign minister made the statement at the Virtual CVF Leaders’ Event, held on the sidelines of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Minister Shahid represented President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih at the CVF Leaders’ Event and delivered remarks. The event was chaired by Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina and co-hosted with the Global Centre on Adaptation, the Secretariat of CVF.
In his statement, Minister Shahid congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for assuming the role of Chair of the CVF and commended her exemplary leadership of Bangladesh on climate-related issues. He also congratulated Speaker of Parliament and former President Mohamed Nasheed for being appointed as the CVF’s Thematic Ambassador for Ambition, noting that his leadership on climate change will bring impetus to the work of CVF and encourage stronger climate action.
The foreign minister further renewed the call for scaled up ambition to tackle climate change by submitting stronger and more enhanced NDCs, as well as reducing emissions to keep the global temperature increase within 1.5 degrees. Minister Shahid noted CVF stands out due to the willingness of its members to match words with meaningful action, despite limitations. He called on countries to keep up the momentum in the lead up to COP 26 in Glasgow next year.
Furthermore, Minister Shahid emphasised that more ambitious climate action can only be achieved with access to adequate, predictable and sustainable finance, especially for the most vulnerable communities to climate change. He noted that the share of this finance was too little for climate-vulnerable countries.
The foreign minister concluded by expressing his confidence that the CVF will play an important role in scaling up ambition and ensuring that we leave a safe and habitable world for the future generations. In this regard, he said that building back better means investing in a greener, bluer and cleaner economy.
The CVF Leaders’ Event was organised to highlight the urgency for ambitious action for all countries to submit stronger and more enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) before December 31, 2020, emphasise the need to ensure that climate resilience is integrated into the COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery and promote the strengthening of adaptation to climate shocks. The event featured live interventions and video statements by CVF heads of state and government, ministers, CVF thematic ambassadors and key partners.
CVF was founded at the initiative of the Government of the Maldives prior to the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 15) held in Copenhagen, Denmark. It remains a unique forum designed to amplify the voice of 48 of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations.