Feature: Bangladesh PM honored with UN Champions of Earth award

Her all-out efforts quickly caught the attention of the Bangladesh people who have felt the pinch of climate change over the last years.

A quiet revolution is sweeping through Bangladesh's coastal areas which are frequently affected by various climate change induced disasters.

She has taken up an action plan along with measures such as strengthening river embankments, building emergency cyclone shelters, and developing world class community-based early warning systems which have significantly reduced the loss of life and livelihoods and property damage caused by extreme weather conditions.

To make Bangladesh, the largest delta in the world with low- lying flood plains, less vulnerable to natural disasters, she also attached special priority to increasing food production; diversifying crops to make them adaptable to the changing environment and set up more silos.

For millions of climate victims in Bangladesh, two-thirds of its territory lies in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta, her relentless efforts now offer climate resilient pathways.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was declared on Monday as one of the winners of the United Nations' highest environmental accolade, in recognition of her far-reaching initiatives to address climate change in Bangladesh, one of the world's most populated countries.

"Serving as Prime Minister of Bangladesh one of the world's least-developed countries - Sheikh Hasina has proven that investing in climate change is conducive to achieving social and economic development," UN Environment Program (UNEP) said in a statement.

The annual Champions of the Earth award is the highest environmental award that the United Nations can confer upon outstanding individuals and organizations. Previous laureates range from leaders of nations to grassroots activists, whose leadership and actions drive the world ever closer to its aspirations of environmental sustainability and a life of dignity for all.

The award in the Policy Leadership category, which the prime minister will accept at a ceremony in New York on Sept. 27, recognizes Bangladesh's first-off-the-block initiatives under Hasina's government to prepare the ecologically fragile country for the challenges it faces from climate change.

With a population of more than 159 million, UNEP said Bangladesh is also one of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Cyclones, floods and droughts have long been a part of the country's history, but they have intensified in recent years.

"Through a number of forward-looking policy initiatives and investments, Bangladesh has placed confronting the challenge of climate change at the core of its development. These initiatives, from climate change adaptation measures to ecosystem preservation legislation, mean that current and future generations of Bangladeshis are better prepared to address climate change risks and reverse the impacts of environmental degradation," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

The award cites the progressive Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan of 2009, which made Bangladesh the first developing country to frame such a coordinated action plan. Bangladesh is also the first country to set up its own Climate Change Trust Fund supported by nearly 300 million U.S. dollars of domestic resources from 2009-2012.

The government currently earmarks 6-7 percent of its annual budget - some 1 billion U.S. dollars - on climate change adaptation, with only 25 percent of this coming from international donors.

A Climate Change Fiscal Framework is also in the works to enable the government to track the demand and supply of climate change funds. For the first time, climate change is no longer merely an additional demand, it is central to the country's development prospects.

In addition, under her leadership, the Bangladesh Constitution was amended in 2011 to include a constitutional directive to the State to protect the environment and natural resources for current and future generations.

Prioritized in the constitution along with wetlands and wildlife, the forestry policies initiative by prime minister Hasina has provided a natural barrier from some extreme weather events and the country's forests cover has increased by almost 10 percent.

Moving beyond physical and capital investment in climate change adaptation, the government is also implementing a wide range of measures to help citizens prepare for an increasingly unpredictable future. These include new health services dealing with waterborne diseases linked to increased floods, training community groups about early warning systems and promoting climate- friendly agricultural technologies.

As part of climate change mitigation, Hasina's government is giving high priority to clean and renewable energy including one of the world's largest solar home energy systems, covering 10 percent of the off-grid population, and reducing emissions from brick-making, one of the largest sources of stationary emissions in the country.

In a major initiative to protect the environment, human health and livelihoods, legislation is being enacted to step up regulation of the coastal polluting from the ship-scrapping industry that employs a huge workforce in hazardous conditions.

"As one of the most disaster prone countries in the world, Bangladesh understands the importance of addressing the impact of climate change. The country is already experiencing its detrimental effects, and it is often the poorest and marginalized who feel it most," said Robert Watkins, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh.

"From 1990 to 2008 Bangladesh averaged annual losses of 1.8 percent of the country's GDP due to natural disasters, yet it is important to remember that addressing the impact of climate change is more than just a question of economics. High tides in coastal areas of the country are rising faster than the global average, which leads to loss of livelihoods and displacement of people," he said.

"It is also a clarion call for the global community to take action today, and to realize that climate change is not a problem of the future, it is already happening in our lifetime." Endi