Climate change conf’ce to begin tomorrow

Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine, former UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva will arrive in Dhaka today to attend a two-day international conference on climate change adaptation.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the key part of the event titled “Dhaka Meeting of the Global Commission on Adaptation” tomorrow at Hotel InterContinental.

A report on climate change adaptation by the Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA) and different mechanisms to face the adverse effects of climate change will be discussed at the meeting, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told a press conference at his office, BSS reports.

Bangladesh will showcase its good practices on climate change adaption initiatives like water resilient crops, home solar system and climate trust fund, the minister said. 

The meeting will prepare a set of recommendations on climate change adaptation for placing it before the UN in September.

During their stay here, the international dignitaries will visit the Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar to see environmental degradation caused by the Rohingya influx and settlement, the minister said.

Abul Kalam Azad, principal coordinator (SDG Affairs) at the Prime Minister’s Office, said, “We would like to show the global leaders how our environment is being affected due to the huge Rohingya influx.”

Bangladesh needs global support for restoring the affected environment in Cox’s Bazar, he told the press conference.

“It will be easy for us to get international support in this regard when the global leaders see the situation for themselves,” Azad said.

The PM will also hold a meeting with the Marshall Islands president and the former UN chief at the InterContinental to discuss various issues related to climate change adaptation efforts.

Foreign Minister Momen will host a dinner for the dignitaries at the hotel tomorrow evening.

GCA Centre CEO Patrick V Verkooijen, World Resources Institute Executive Vice President and Managing Director Manish Bapna and CGA Commissioner and Executive Director of Brac Muhammad Musa will also attend the preparatory meeting.

Meanwhile, The Netherlands Queen Maxima will arrive in Dhaka today on a four-day visit to see different development activities and hold meetings with high officials, mainly from Bangladesh’s financial sector.

She will meet the PM around 7:00pm on Wednesday at parliament.

She will visit the UN headquarters in Dhaka and meet representatives of development partners on Wednesday morning.

She will visit Zindari union parishad office of Palash in Narsingdi and a boutique shop at Tongi.