Visiting COP 26 President-Designate Alok Sharma on Wednesday urged rich nations to expedite creation of the annual $100 billion climate fund so that climate vulnerable countries like Bangladesh can benefit from it.
He also urged all countries to fulfill their commitments to limit global temperature rise to 1.5-degree.
"I have urged the rich countries to fulfill their pledge to create the 100 billion US dollar annual climate fund so that we can support the climate vulnerable countries" Mr Sharma said.
He hoped that in the upcoming COP 26 summit in Glasgow, the global community will pledge to reach the 1.5-degree temperature target.
He said that abandoning the coal-based power projects was a priority for him and he had already called upon all concerned countries to do the needful.
Responding to a question, Mr Sharma said that preserving the Sundarban was crucial to ecological balance and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told him during their meeting in the morning that the government took all out measures to protect this unique mangrove forest.
He mentioned that the climate fund would also get contributions from the private sector and many companies have shown interest in this regard.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told the briefing that Bangladesh has committed to reduce its dependency on coal power.
"We will gradually switch to renewable energy and in this case the rich countries may help us through investment and technology transfer," he said. The minister also sought development partners' support to reconstruct coastal embankments in Bangladesh.
Mr Sharma arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday morning on a two-day visit to strengthen support for UK COP 26 climate priorities ahead of hosting the crucial UN climate change summit in Glasgow in November this year. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam received Mr Sharma at Hazrat Shahjalal ® International Airport (HSIA) at around 9:20am upon his arrival.
He had a meeting with Foreign Minister Dr Momen at 12:30pm at the Foreign Service Academy.
Before that, Mr Sharma met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official residence Ganabhaban at 11:30am.
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