Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan has urged developed countries to fulfill their global commitments on climate finance, warning that failure to do so would put climate-vulnerable nations like Bangladesh at existential risk.

Climate-vulnerable countries cannot survive if developed nations do not increase their financial contributions to tackle climate change. Bangladesh must also play a stronger role in ensuring climate justice,” she said.

Rizwana Hasan, who serves as Adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and the Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion titled “Road to Belem COP30: People-Led Policy – Bangladesh Position @COP30” held at the Department of Environment in Dhaka on Tuesday.

She said the losses caused by climate change cannot be compensated with money alone. “Financial aid cannot restore eroded rivers, lost biodiversity, or human security. Environmental and climate risks must be placed at the center of national development planning,” she added.

If we fail to embed climate justice into our development philosophy and decision-making now, future generations will face an unbearable reality. Economic growth will then no longer be humane or sustainable,” Rizwana Hasan warned.

She also called for Bangladesh’s climate action to go beyond international speeches and turn into concrete measures on the ground. “Stopping illegal sand extraction, protecting rivers, and supporting local administrations in environmental protection — these are the true indicators of climate leadership,” she said.

ActionAid Bangladesh Country Director Farah Kabir, NaCOM Executive Director Dr S M Munjurul Hannan Khan, Department of Environment Additional Director General Sohrab Ali, Director Mirza Shawkat Ali, and C3ER Assistant Director Roufa Khanam also spoke at the event.

Earlier in the day, Rizwana Hasan addressed the 8th Convocation Ceremony of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital.

There, she stressed that development must not come at the cost of environmental degradation. “Protecting rivers, forests, and wetlands is a matter of survival, equity, and human dignity,” she said, reminding graduates that true progress can only be achieved when economic growth is inclusive, sustainable, and respectful of nature.