After mass protests ousted Bangladesh’s long-time leader, environmental activists are calling on the interim government to place climate change on its agenda even as it faces the urgent task of restoring normalcy after weeks of tumult.

Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in on Aug. 8 after student protests over jobs turned into a broader uprising, leaving hundreds of people dead and forcing former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to flee the country.

It remains unclear how long the technocratic government will serve, and legal experts have said it could be a year or more. Yunus, 84, has reportedly said he wants to see through “vital reforms” in the judiciary, security forces and bureaucracy before holding a new general election.

Amid the long list of priorities, experts are warning that climate change should not be given short shrift. Bangladesh is the world’s ninth-most climate-vulnerable nation, according to the World Risk Index, and everything from its food supplies to human health are endangered by extreme weather events.

“We have to make it clear to investors and partners at home and abroad that we will keep building on our achievements in tackling climate hazards and disasters and speed up our energy transition,” said Zakir Hossain Khan, chief executive of the Dhaka-based think tank Change Initiative.

Yunus, an economist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in microfinance, has appointed more than 20 advisers to a council that will effectively serve as his cabinet.

Among them is Syeda Rizwana Hasan, a 56-year-old lawyer and environmental activist, who will oversee the environment and climate portfolio.

Environmentalists are hoping Hasan’s activist credentials will make climate policies a priority in the Yunus administration.

While the de facto climate minister has promised to tackle pollution, protect wetlands and curb single-use plastics, Hasan has not yet specified Bangladesh’s next steps on the climate.

(Reuters)