Frugal Innovation Forum 2025: Environment Adviser urges global action on mitigation

City Desk :

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Ministry of Water Resources, underscored that while innovative climate adaptation efforts are essential, they cannot replace the urgent need for global mitigation. Drawing from recent experiences in coastal districts like Noakhali and Feni, she highlighted how rising water levels, compounded by complex river systems and tidal effects, are overwhelming local flood infrastructure. “Adaptation has limits,” she said. “We must ask: how much can we adapt before we collapse?”

Environment Advisor said this while delivering the keynote address at the session titled “Policy Perspective on Climate Adaptation in Agriculture, Food Security, and Livelihoods” at the Frugal Innovation Forum 2025, held at BRAC CDM, Savar on Saturday, reports a press release.

The Advisor questioned the global push for nature-based solutions without sincere commitments to emission reductions. “Nature-based solutions should be about protecting forests, rivers, and canals-not counting trees to offset carbon while emissions continue unchecked,” she stated.
She criticized the trend of monetizing ecosystems without addressing the root cause: fossil fuel dependency.

Touching on agricultural vulnerability, Rizwana Hasan stressed the need to rethink crop patterns, discourage harmful practices like expanding tobacco and cassava cultivation, and invest in regenerative, community-informed farming systems. “Safe food, not just more food, must be our goal,” she said.