| Impact of climate change : 20pc land of Bangladesh may go under sea water Around 200 delegates, including 150 from 50 countries, representing the United Nations, donor organizations, international universities, international research centres, NGOs and media took part in the deliberations on the critical issue. Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday called upon the international community to design climate change adaptation strategy considering the possibility of huge migration from the areas of Bangladesh, vulnerable to go under the sea as an impact of climate change. "Twenty percent of the country's total landmass is apprehended to be drowned under the sea water," he told the concluding session of the weeklong 3rd International Conference on Climate Change at Hotel Sheraton."Migration is a very important consideration for the international community," Muhith said. Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and The RING (Regional and International Networking Group), jointly organized the conference titled "Community Based Adaptation (CBA) to Climate Change".Planning Minister AK Khandaker also addressed the session, moderated by BCAS executive director Dr Atiq Rahman. As part of the conference, the delegates divided into six groups visited six flood-and-drought-prone zones of Bangladesh to pick case studies of the natural calamities. The Finance Minister said that while formulating the climate change adaptation strategy the international community must consider that the industrial revolution by the rich nations has created the environmental crisis. Turning to domestic preparations, he said the country has developed a strategy to face the challenges of the climate change impact. The strategy, now under review, includes creation of two funds to be in place very soon. "There is an expert group which will be continuously working on environment," he said, adding that the expert group would work alongside the international community, as Bangladesh is quite active in the international field. Responding to a conference criticism, Muhith said Bangladesh has been very active in environmental causes since 1992, but he does not think that the Community Based Adaptation (CBA) approach has been a problem."Bangladesh truly is a laboratory," he said, mentioning the successes the country has demonstrated in mitigating the losses of lives and property by the natural disaster. The conference aimed at promoting CBA to climate change, both nationally and globally, while generating and sharing exchange of knowledge and experience on CBA to climate change.It stressed the urgent need for creating good ideas and action on how the CBA could help fill the adaptation gap. Besides the much talked about environmental problems like cyclone, floods, drought, erosion and sea level change, the minister drew attention of the international community attending the conference to add another impact of environmental factors - respiratory problem in the capital city."Dhaka can be a laboratory of respiratory problem," he said. |
__._,_.___
