Thrust on appropriate focus of climate change issue in SFYP
Thursday, 26 May 2011
FE Report
Climate Change (CC) issue should be focused appropriately in the Sixth Five Year Plan (SFYP) of the government as it is now an important matter for every sector of the country, speakers at a roundtable said Wednesday. "CC is now globally a burning issue concerned with human survival and Bangladesh is now witnessing its effects directly, so we cannot keep our eyes just closed", they said. According to experts, the sea level will rise by 1.0 to 1.5 metres within the next three decades and if that happens, nearly 30 million people living in 147 upazilas under 19 districts of the costal area of the country would turn into climate refugees. The sea water would destroy agriculture, land, water, industry etc. of that vast area, they said. The speakers said these at a roundtable tilted "Sixth Five Year Plan: Climate change and adaptation a cross-cutting issue", organised by Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP) jointly with Oxfam International, held in the city. Chairman of the Environmental Conservation Management Centre Ansarul Karim presented the keynote paper at the roundtable which found some loopholes of the proposed CC issue in SFYP, prepared by the government. The paper revealed that the CC benchmark and the target in SFYP had underestimated the local adaptation methodologies, through which the local people had been surviving for thousands of years. The paper proposed that benchmarking and targets should be integrated with proposed development sectors. Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on environment and forest ministry Abdul Momin Talukder MP while speaking as the chief guest of the roundtable said, CC should be addressed in every development programme of the country. He said:" Food security, social protection, public health etc. would fall apart if we wouldn't take precautions concerning the CC." Executive Director of BUP Nilufar Banu in her address address of welcome said the country is one of the most vulnerable was among the CC-affected countries. She said, the country needs forestation as it has only 17.49 per cent forest while it requires more than 25 per cent.
Climate Change (CC) issue should be focused appropriately in the Sixth Five Year Plan (SFYP) of the government as it is now an important matter for every sector of the country, speakers at a roundtable said Wednesday. "CC is now globally a burning issue concerned with human survival and Bangladesh is now witnessing its effects directly, so we cannot keep our eyes just closed", they said. According to experts, the sea level will rise by 1.0 to 1.5 metres within the next three decades and if that happens, nearly 30 million people living in 147 upazilas under 19 districts of the costal area of the country would turn into climate refugees. The sea water would destroy agriculture, land, water, industry etc. of that vast area, they said. The speakers said these at a roundtable tilted "Sixth Five Year Plan: Climate change and adaptation a cross-cutting issue", organised by Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP) jointly with Oxfam International, held in the city. Chairman of the Environmental Conservation Management Centre Ansarul Karim presented the keynote paper at the roundtable which found some loopholes of the proposed CC issue in SFYP, prepared by the government. The paper revealed that the CC benchmark and the target in SFYP had underestimated the local adaptation methodologies, through which the local people had been surviving for thousands of years. The paper proposed that benchmarking and targets should be integrated with proposed development sectors. Chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on environment and forest ministry Abdul Momin Talukder MP while speaking as the chief guest of the roundtable said, CC should be addressed in every development programme of the country. He said:" Food security, social protection, public health etc. would fall apart if we wouldn't take precautions concerning the CC." Executive Director of BUP Nilufar Banu in her address address of welcome said the country is one of the most vulnerable was among the CC-affected countries. She said, the country needs forestation as it has only 17.49 per cent forest while it requires more than 25 per cent.