Defence expenditure: Allocate 10pc to deal with climate crisis

Bangladesh yesterday urged the G20 leaders to allocate at least 10 percent of their defence expenditures to a climate fund to reverse the global warming trend.

Speaking at the G20 foreign ministers meeting in New Delhi, Foreign Minister A K Abdul Momen also proposed that the companies, which are making a huge amount of money from the Ukraine war, should allocate at least 20 percent of their profits to the most affected countries.

Momen, a special guest of India at the meeting, spoke at two different sessions.

Momen said the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should remain on top of the agenda of all multilateral initiatives, including the G20.

“India, as a major country of the global south and as the president of the G20, may urge its leadership to allocate sufficient funds and means … to achieve the SDGs by 2030,” he said.

Referring to the climate change crisis, Momen said, “We must save this planet for our future generations. In order to take corrective actions to reverse the trend of global warming, India may … ask the leaders to dedicate at least 10 percent of their defence expenditures to climate fund.”

Momen said the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis is causing hardship across the globe.

Many governments are finding it nightmarish to control inflation due to supply chain disruption and chaos in financial transaction mechanisms owing to sanctions and counter-sanctions, he added.

“As the president of G-20, India may impress on the leaders to end the crisis through peaceful means,” he said.

The foreign minister said as a staunch advocate of world peace and security, Bangladesh today is one of the largest contributors to UN peacekeeping operations.

Pointing out that the Covid-19 pandemic had proved the importance of multilateral solutions to global problems, he batted for “a universal, rule-based, open, transparent, predictable, inclusive, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral system to respond to the growing global challenges”.

Terming terrorism one of the gravest challenges to international peace and security, he said, Bangladesh maintains a “zero-tolerance” policy towards it.

On Rohingya issue, Momen said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened Bangladesh’s border to give shelter and safety to 1.2 million forcibly displaced Rohingyas on humanitarian grounds. Since then, the country is doing its best to assist them despite resource constraints.

However, the prolonged stay of Rohingyas is creating huge security problems across the region as they are a potential target group for radicalisation and recruitment by terrorist groups, he said.

The international community, including the G20, should come forward to ensure their repatriation to Myanmar without further delay, he added.

Momen thanked India for inviting Bangladesh as a guest country to G20, and said “this gesture clearly reflects the depth and warmth of the unique bilateral relationship that exists between our two wonderful nations.”