Bangladesh calls for 'right to survival' in Bonn meet
Monday, 13 April 2009
Bangladesh, regarded as one of the countries extremely exposed to climatic threats, has made its leadership visible in the global climate change negotiating process highlighting its 'right to survival as a human being', in recently concluded climate change talks in Bonn, reports BSS.
The world leaders empathetically heard the concerns of Bangladesh with regards to climate change in the meeting incorporating a number of proposals in the agenda for future negotiation process.
The proposals placed by Bangladesh delegation in the plenary sessions received substantial support from both the chairs and representatives of the countries while delegations from the USA and Danish governments held bilateral talks with members of Bangladesh team to share ideas on its vulnerability, action and vision, officials of Bangladesh delegation told the news agency.
In the bilateral meeting with Bangladesh delegation, the Danish official team showed keen interest to the proposal for establishing an International Adaptation Centre in Dhaka with support of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
In the meeting Bangladesh gave an outline of the structure of the proposed adaptation centre to the Danish team, host of the final round climate change negotiation meeting in Copenhagen in December next.
Bangladesh team also expressed its frustration on overall progress in the ongoing climate change negotiation process, hoping that the Copenhagen Summit will not skip the chance to sign a deal to save the planet from the increasing temperature.
Junior officials of the US delegation exchanged their ideas on technology transfer with their Bangladesh counterparts as they found the intervention of Bangladesh delegation in the Technology Transfer Contact Group meeting was 'very interesting' and 'convincing'.
Bangladesh delegation in a meeting with UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer shared their skepticism whether there will be any deal in Copenhagen due to very slow process to convert documents of the proposals of the parties into text for final negotiation round.
Boer praised the constructive role of Bangladesh in different sessions and emphasised on continuing the role to pursue the parties to come to consensus on different issues as time is running out as only eight months is left for Copenhagen.
Making a call for ensuring early access of the LDCs to the Adaptation Fund, Bangladesh proposed for making a vulnerability index to allocate the future support from the adaptation fund and a legally binding instrument for adaptation.
Population size, geographical location, social economic condition, UN Human Development Index and vulnerability of the country to climate change and other natural hazards should be the criterions for making such vulnerability index, head of Bangladesh delegation and Director General of the Department of Environment (DoE) M Nojibur Rahman said.
Bangladesh also raised the issue of non-availability of the fund promised by the rich nations in 2001 in the seventh conference of the parties in Morocco to give support of US$ 2 billion to LDCs for taking immediate and urgent action on adaptation to climate change.
Bangladesh mainly focused on the issues of Adaptation, Shared Vision, Finance and Technology Transfer under Long term Cooperative Action (LCA) and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), Reduction of Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and Emission Reduction by the developed countries under Kyoto Protocol.
However, Bangladesh delegation highlighted the adaptation issues saying Bangladesh direly and immediately requires easy access to adaptation technologies where Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) should not be a barrier to allow it and other developing countries to get such technologies.
At a press conference in Bonn on April 6, noted German climate change expert Dr Stefan Rahmstorf also expressed the same view on the demand of the LDCs for easy access to technology saying that "Transfer of Environmentally sound Technologies (ESTs) for adaptation and mitigation now is one of the prime responsibilities of the developed countries to tackle global climate change and increase resilience to climate change impacts".
Bangladesh supported the proposed 'insurance mechanism' proposed by a leading German insurance group Munich Re to support people adapt to climate related risks.
The world leaders empathetically heard the concerns of Bangladesh with regards to climate change in the meeting incorporating a number of proposals in the agenda for future negotiation process.
The proposals placed by Bangladesh delegation in the plenary sessions received substantial support from both the chairs and representatives of the countries while delegations from the USA and Danish governments held bilateral talks with members of Bangladesh team to share ideas on its vulnerability, action and vision, officials of Bangladesh delegation told the news agency.
In the bilateral meeting with Bangladesh delegation, the Danish official team showed keen interest to the proposal for establishing an International Adaptation Centre in Dhaka with support of UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
In the meeting Bangladesh gave an outline of the structure of the proposed adaptation centre to the Danish team, host of the final round climate change negotiation meeting in Copenhagen in December next.
Bangladesh team also expressed its frustration on overall progress in the ongoing climate change negotiation process, hoping that the Copenhagen Summit will not skip the chance to sign a deal to save the planet from the increasing temperature.
Junior officials of the US delegation exchanged their ideas on technology transfer with their Bangladesh counterparts as they found the intervention of Bangladesh delegation in the Technology Transfer Contact Group meeting was 'very interesting' and 'convincing'.
Bangladesh delegation in a meeting with UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer shared their skepticism whether there will be any deal in Copenhagen due to very slow process to convert documents of the proposals of the parties into text for final negotiation round.
Boer praised the constructive role of Bangladesh in different sessions and emphasised on continuing the role to pursue the parties to come to consensus on different issues as time is running out as only eight months is left for Copenhagen.
Making a call for ensuring early access of the LDCs to the Adaptation Fund, Bangladesh proposed for making a vulnerability index to allocate the future support from the adaptation fund and a legally binding instrument for adaptation.
Population size, geographical location, social economic condition, UN Human Development Index and vulnerability of the country to climate change and other natural hazards should be the criterions for making such vulnerability index, head of Bangladesh delegation and Director General of the Department of Environment (DoE) M Nojibur Rahman said.
Bangladesh also raised the issue of non-availability of the fund promised by the rich nations in 2001 in the seventh conference of the parties in Morocco to give support of US$ 2 billion to LDCs for taking immediate and urgent action on adaptation to climate change.
Bangladesh mainly focused on the issues of Adaptation, Shared Vision, Finance and Technology Transfer under Long term Cooperative Action (LCA) and Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF), Reduction of Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) and Emission Reduction by the developed countries under Kyoto Protocol.
However, Bangladesh delegation highlighted the adaptation issues saying Bangladesh direly and immediately requires easy access to adaptation technologies where Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) should not be a barrier to allow it and other developing countries to get such technologies.
At a press conference in Bonn on April 6, noted German climate change expert Dr Stefan Rahmstorf also expressed the same view on the demand of the LDCs for easy access to technology saying that "Transfer of Environmentally sound Technologies (ESTs) for adaptation and mitigation now is one of the prime responsibilities of the developed countries to tackle global climate change and increase resilience to climate change impacts".
Bangladesh supported the proposed 'insurance mechanism' proposed by a leading German insurance group Munich Re to support people adapt to climate related risks.