South Asian parliamentarians and civil society organisations at a meeting have opined that they will raise common voice in the upcoming International Climate Conference to be held in Paris, France.
The three-day meeting styled 'South Asian Parliamentarians and Civil Societies on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Climate Change' began at the Transnational Justice Institute in Kathmandu, Nepal on Friday, said a press release.
The meeting was jointly organised by Beyond Copenhagen Collective (BCC) and Public Advocacy Initiatives for Rights and Values in India (PAIRVI) targeting the upcoming conference which is also called as Conference of the Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Chance (UNFCCC).
The 21st conference, known as COP'21 will be held from November 30 to December 11 this year.
Dr Hasan Mahmud, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Environment and Forests of Bangladesh, chaired the inaugural session.
He said the South Asian civil societies and politicians will have to work hand in hand. "We have to work jointly to make the LDCs (Least Developed Countries) and South Asian voice louder in COP'21," he said.
A good inter-government cooperation in South Asia can solve energy scarcity in the subcontinent, he said, mentioning that Bhutan has increased per capita income to US$ 4,000 by exporting hydropower to India.
Dr. Hasan also mentioned that Bangladesh, a LDC country, is badly affected by climate change.
He urged civil societies in the region to work with politicians so that South Asia and LDCs can place a common voice in Paris which can help them achieve their goals.
A number of parliament members and civil society representatives from India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are taking part in the meeting.
Bijoy Prothap, Representative of South Asia Dialogue on Ecological Democracy (SADED) India, stressed the need for mobilising South Asian leaders to place their own issues to be discussed in the global SDG and climate change talks.
He said almost all the LDCs will be the most vulnerable countries due to climate change which could be a common ground for them.
BCC courier Soumya Dutta said SDG was going to be adopted in next UN General Assembly, but hardly any debate was going on in South Asia about it.
Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Chief Moderator of Equity and Justice Working Group, Bangladesh (EquityBD), also spoke on the occasion.
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