Young generation can feel climate urgency more strongly than others: Syeda Rizwana Hasan

Youth for NDCs and its partners formally handed over the outcome document “NDC 3.0 for COP30 – Stakeholder Recommendations” to Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the Ministry of Water Resources, at a ceremony held at Pani Bhaban on Friday evening. The event comes ahead of Bangladesh’s upcoming submission of its updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the UNFCCC.

Receiving the recommendations, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan stressed that the young generation will face the greatest impacts of climate change in the years ahead. She emphasized the importance of cultivating values, honesty, and long-term thinking to safeguard the future. “The young generation is one that can feel this urgency more strongly than mine,” she remarked.

Highlighting the significance of their sustained engagement and collaboration, she further noted that governments often become comfortable in their own policy processes, making initiatives that emerge from society particularly important. “This is how values develop in a society—they don’t develop overnight,” she said, underscoring the role of youth participation in shaping Bangladesh’s climate commitments.

The outcome document “NDC 3.0 for COP30 – Stakeholder Recommendations” consolidates 14 actionable proposals developed through dialogue sessions with sector experts, academia, youth, and other stakeholders. The recommendations focus on four key areas: Energy, Agriculture, Forestry, and Urbanization, offering concrete inputs for Bangladesh’s third round of NDCs.

Distinguished attendees at the handover included Amanullah Porag, the Founder of Youth for NDCs; Edwin Koekkoek, First Counsellor and Team Leader – Green Inclusive Development, Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh; Ulrich Kleppmann, Counsellor and Head of Development Cooperation, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Dhaka; and Nayoka Martinez Bäckström, First Secretary and Deputy Head of Development Cooperation, Embassy of Sweden in Dhaka. Representatives from the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) were also present.

The “NDC 3.0 for COP30” dialogue series was led by Youth for NDCs in collaboration with Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Independent University Bangladesh (IUB), and Khulna University (KU). The initiative was supported by the Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, Embassy of Sweden, German Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the MoEFCC.

This youth-driven process underscores Bangladesh’s commitment to inclusive climate action and the critical role of diverse stakeholders in shaping a resilient and ambitious NDC framework for COP30.