Dhaka hosts climate meet in May-June

Bangladesh is going to host a regional conference on climate change in May or June in Dhaka as part of the road to the next Conference of Parties (COP16).
The European Union has proposed to sponsor the conference, State Minister for Environment and Forests Hasan Mahmud said this yesterday while talking to the reporters following a meeting with 12 EU ambassadors at the state guesthouse Meghna in the capital.
“We are very much interested to hold the conference but we are yet to fix the date formally,” said the minister.
Saarc members and other countries will be invited to take part in the conference but names of countries have not yet been specified.
It is an initiative on the way to the COP-16 to keep the momentum of the activities to deal with climate change impacts, said Ambassador Stefan Frowein, head of delegation of the EU to Bangladesh.
Replying to a question, Stefan, who was present at the meeting, said that Bangladesh’s multi-donor trust fund for climate change is likely to get operational in next couple of days.
The donor fund is meant for both adaptation and mitigation actions to cope with the changing climate. The entire fund is a grant.
It is by and large finalised that the fund will be operated under the authority and leadership of Bangladesh, said the minister.
However, the World Bank will provide technical assistance, he added.
WB’s involvement in the fund is temporary, said Stefan adding that Bangladesh will operate it independently later on.
The United Kingdom has committed to contribute 60 million pounds as a grant to Bangladesh’s multi-donor trust fund on climate change.
While the EU is supposed to contribute 8.5 million euros and Denmark will give 10 million Danish Kroners to the trust fund.
The funds will be released in phases over next five years.
This is just the start, said Stefan adding that if the fund works well, it will draw more finance.
Yesterday’s meeting was to reflect on how to make the COP16 a success in the light of achievements and unfulfilled aspirations at the COP15 in Copenhagen, said the state minister.
Bangladesh government has kept an allocation of Tk700 crore in the development budget of the current fiscal from its own resource to combat climate change.

Courtesy of The Daily Star