Bangladesh on climate change

Britain and Bangladesh will jointly hold a high-level conference on climate change on Wednesday in London to launch a possible Bangladesh-specific climate change action plan and trust fund in line with the Bali Declaration.

Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam and Environment Special Assistant Raja Devasish Roy will present a strategy and action plan, including plans to start a billion dollar multi-donor trust fund, to combat climate change.

"At the conference we hope to present a strategy and an action plan which is in the final stage at this moment," said Devasish in a statement, adding that the strategy outlines how climate change issues will be mainstreamed towards development over 10 years.

British International Development Minister Douglas Alexander and World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will attend the conference along with 200 other participants including speakers from vulnerable countries, donors, private sector, academia and NGOs.

The joint effort by the two countries will try to link mitigating and adapting to climate changes with meeting the Millennium Development Goals and overall development.

The government consulted selected members of the civil society, private sector and donors to draw up the strategy to identify potential physical impacts of climate change.

“The main concern raised is that the pace of climate change could overwhelm development efforts and reverse the gains of recent decades," said a government statement. The strategy calls on donors to support Bangladesh in developing climate change resilient capability.

The conference will focus on highlighting Bangladesh as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change effects and how Bangladeshis are already struggling to adapt to the effects.

Looking ahead to the new international climate change agreement expected to be signed in Copenhagen in 2009, the British and Bangladesh governments will highlight the need for global participation in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and support climate change adaptation.

"The aim is to increase international focus on how Bangladesh is adapting to climate change and how much more needs to be done, both domestically and globally to stop it from worsening," said DFID Bangladesh chief Chris Austin.

He added that Britain would announce a significant package of support to address climate change in Bangladesh.

According to government projections, the country is likely to suffer from more intense and frequent floods, droughts, cyclones and storm surges, with adverse impact on agriculture, water security and health.

By 2050, rising sea levels could permanently flood 8 percent of the country with production of rice declining by 8 percent. Around 70 million people could be annually affected by floods with up to 12 million people being affected by drought in the dry season.