Khondaker Golam Moazzem

The COP26 began at the Scottish Event Campus in Glasgow yesterday. The whole world is closely watching how much of their expectation on reducing climate vulnerabilities is being addressed through required actions.

Will the 1.5-degree Celsius target be alive by the COP26? This is the key question that has been floating around as we wait for the COP26, starting from October 31 in Glasgow, UK.

The 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) is just 15 days away. The COP26 secretariat, the UK and Italian government and governments of the participating countries are finalising their last days of preparation before meeting in Glasgow, UK from October 31 to November 12.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in his official statement at the General Debate of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 21, announced that China would step up support for other developing countries in generating green and low-carbon energy and would not build new coal-fired power projects abroad.

Recently, reports of two contradictory developments in the power and energy sector have befuddled readers in Bangladesh.

The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic hit Bangladesh in early March this year -- almost exactly a year after the initial wave reached the country’s shores.

John Kerry, the special presidential envoy for climate of the United States, is coming to Dhaka tomorrow. Though his visit will be of short duration, it has long and important implications for Bangladesh’s effort to address the climate vulnerabilities and seek support for sustainable solutions at global levels.

The tragic accident of Tazreen Fashions—a garment factory in Bangladesh—that took place on November 24 in 2012 was a major industrial accident in the global apparel value chain.

The government closed down 25 jute mills operated under the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) on July 1. It was one of the difficult political decisions taken by the ruling party since it formed the government in 2009. Such a decision hints at the major political shift of the ruling party – from promoting state-owned enterprise development towards private sector led enterprise development.

The resilience of the domestic agriculture sector mainly of the crop sector appears to be in a weak state. Without proper policy intervention the pressure on the agriculture sector would increase further and would cause a number of challenges on food security for a large section of people in the coming months.

The budget for fiscal 2020-21 is said to be one of the most challenging financial bills in Bangladesh’s recent history.

Bangladesh has decided to gradually resume economic activities, a decision that was taken at a time when the daily detection of coronavirus patients in the country is on the rise -- from 418 on 26 April to 1,034 on 11 May.

The recent events in the garment sector regarding the workers’ unpaid wages, layoffs, retrenchment and opening of factories without proper safety measures portray that the May Day does not bear any more significance than a normal day.

On 5 April, the honourable prime minister has announced the second stimulus package in view of addressing the adversity of coronavirus on our economy.

The outbreak of coronavirus is deepening in the country and the risks on public health and overall economy is getting high.

The discussion on the revision of minimum wages in Bangladesh's apparels sector over the last eight months has ended with a partial announcement of minimum wages by the Minimum Wage Board (MWB) on September 13, 2018.

As we know by now, Bangladesh has attained all three criteria for graduation from the least developed country (LDC) group.

The formation of Accord and Alliance in 2013 and their activities for workplace safety in the RMG sector have led to important organisational learning for Bangladesh.

Widening comparative advantage in global export market has not only triggered economic growth but also ensured expected structural transformation as has been revealed in many Asian developing economies such as South Korea,