Bangladesh set to seek billions of dollar for 'trust fund'

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M Azizur RahmanbrBangladesh is set to seek several billion dollars from the rich nations for a 'trust fund' to help fight the impacts of climate change and enable adaptation to a rising sea-level, mounting natural disasters and decline in crop yields in an international conference tomorrow (Wednesday).brThe country, which is among the most vulnerable nations of climate change, will articulate a strategic vision for tackling catastrophies and launch an action plan besides evolving a funding mechanism during the conference to be held in central London.brIt will highlight its plight and vulnerability and planned adaptation strategy to climate change before the British government and other international donors during the London event.brThe conference titled, UK-Bangladesh Climate Change Conference Bangladesh Facing the Challenge, is being jointly hosted by the UK and Bangladesh governments.brRepresentatives from the governments of Bangladesh and the UK, including Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, and Bangladesh finance minister Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam will attend in the conference.brFormer chief economic adviser to the UK government and leading climate change analyst Lord Nicholas Stern and World Bank managing director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will speak among others in the conference.brParticipants from other vulnerable South Asian countries, donor countries, the private sector, academics and non-governmental organisations working in Bangladesh and the UK will also take part in the event.brThe proposed Bangladesh strategy will call on international partners to support the country in line with agreements in international climate change negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), in becoming resilient to climate change through support to its action plan to ensure the well being and development of the people and country. brEnvironmental experts fear Bangladesh will be experiencing more storms and cyclone, floods, droughts and rainfall as a direct impact of climate change.brUp to 40 per cent of the country may be affected by flood and up to 8 per cent by drought on annual basis by 2050 due to climate change, they said.brSea level rise may permanently flood 6 -8 per cent of the coastal and low-lying lands by 2050 and may force thousands of people to relocate. brSeventy million people could be affected annually by floods in Bangladesh and up to 12 million people could be affected by drought especially in the North West Bangladesh by 2050.brProduction of rice and wheat could decline by 8 per cent and 32 per cent by 2050, compared to 1990.brThe country will require several billion dollars by next decade to build dams, cyclone shelters, plant trees along the coast and build infrastructure and capacities to adapt to increasing number of natural disasters, a senior official of the ministry of environment and forest said.brRegarding climate change International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) country representative professor Ainun Nishat said Bangladesh would not sink due to impact of the climate change. But the land mass outside the protected areas might be inundated by water due to sea level rise and increase of average temperature.brHe said global temperature has been rising alarmingly in last one and a half decades resulting in sea level rise, frequent incidences of storms and floods.brFarmers are bearing the brunt of the climate change as they are now unable to predict weather and cultivate crops at their choices, Dr Nishat, who was a BUET teacher prior to his IUCN job, said.brThe Aman cultivation is becoming vulnerable in Bangladesh due to climate change, he cautioned.brEconomist Dr Atiur Rahman expressed concerns over the achievement of the millennium development goals (MDGs) due to manifold reasons including climate change.br