Experts on Wednesday urged to make climate data accessible as it is crucial for resilient development and creating a path for transformative and integrated collaboration in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region.
They made the call at a two-day regional conference, titled "Climate data: Opportunities for resilient development", in the city.
The Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region covers the area of mountains in eight countries of central and South Asian - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Bhutan, China, Myanmar and Nepal.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusamme-narbeit (GIZ) GmbH, in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Department of Agricultural Extension and the Program-ming Division of the Bangladesh Planning Com-mission, organised the event.
Habibun Nahar, Deputy Minister of the environment ministry, spoke at the event as the chief guest.
Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik, Additional Secretary, environment ministry chaired the inaugural session while Nusrat Noman, Joint Secretary, Programming Division of Bangladesh Planning Commission spoke as the special guest.
In her address, Habibun Nahar said that the government has taken a number of initiatives to address the climate challenge.
Bangladesh, one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change impacts, has formulated policies and plans to combat these impacts as reflected in the National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA), the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan and the Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan, she added.
Experts, however, said it is crucial to have access to climate data and climate risk information to implement these plans.
The two-day conference would give various stakeholders a chance to deliberate on barriers and opportunities in accessing climate risk information.
Speakers explored technical solutions to issues pertaining to the lack of up-to-date, reliable and accessible climate data, and allowing practitioners to network in finding innovative solutions.
Malik Fida A Khan, Executive Director, Centre for Environment and Geographical Information Services (CEGIS), presented the keynote paper in the opening session, offering the status of climate data and accessibility in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region.
Over the course of the conference, participants also got the chance to browse through existing good practices in terms of research, communications, government initiatives, youth movements and the German technical cooperation's support in climate change adaptation efforts.
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