Ensuring a sustainable management of common ecosystem in South Asian countries could address the adverse impacts of global climate change in the region, said Dr Saleemul Huq.
“There is a common ecosystem in the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna river basins. We’ve to look into the things much more,” Dr Saleemul Huq, the director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD), told a workshop in the capital on Thursday.
Oxfam Bangladesh in financial assistance from the European Union organised the Learning Sharing Workshop of the project, titled ‘Strengthening the role of Non-state Actors in Climate Change Policy Formulation in South Asia and Enhancing their Capacities to Influence Global Climate Change Negotiations’ at Spectra Convention Centre.
Dr Saleemul Huq, also a senior fellow at the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), said Bangladesh has already raised its voice at international climate negotiations.
Bangladesh has also been able to achieve marked progress in making people aware about the adverse impacts of climate change, he said.
About the preparation to cope with climate change impacts, the ICCCAD director stressed the need for providing half of the fund allocated for adaptation to the marginal and climate vulnerable people.
Dr Huq also raised question about implementation of climate change-related projects taken by the government.
“…gets funds and utilizes the funds. Is the money used effectively? It is a big question today. The civil society can play a big role in this regard,” he said.
Chair of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud, PKSF chairman Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, former Minister for Environment, Science and Technology of Nepal Ganesh Shah and first Counsellor and Head of Cooperation of the European Union Delegation in Bangladesh Philippe Jacques also spoke at the workshop.
The project — Strengthening the role of Non-state Actors in Climate Change Policy Formulation in South Asia and Enhancing their Capacities to Influence Global Climate Change Negotiations — was implemented in Bangladesh, Nepal and South Asia Region by Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) in Bangladesh, Climate Change Network Nepal (CCNN) in Nepal and Climate Action Network in South Asia (CANSA).
The three-year project was funded jointly by the European Union and Oxfam, which started in April 2011 and ended in March 2014.
Source: UNB Connect
