The state minister for environment and forests, Hasan Mahmud, on Wednesday said Bangladesh would emphasise reduction in carbon emissions by developed nations at the United Nations climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico.
He said they would strongly demand funds and technology support in adaptation against adverse impact of climate change for which least developed countries such as Bangladesh were not responsible.
‘It has been proved through scientific researches that Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to the adverse impact of climate change caused by global warming for which we are in no way responsible,’ the state minister said at a briefing at the ministry.
Hasan Mahmud is going to lead a 100-member delegation, including experts, officials and journalists, to the UN climate talks that began at the beach resort of Cancun on November 29. He will leave Dhaka for Cancun tomorrow.
‘We will stress the need for giving priority to adaptation in allocation of funds at the Cancun conference,’ the state minister said in reply to question.
He said the government would prefer formation of a fund through bilateral agreements as there was no development in the accumulation of $30 billion global fund by 2012 and $100 billion by 2020 in keeping with the Copenhagen accord of 2009.
The two-week conference in Mexico aims at agreeing on the funds. It will also seek to formalise existing targets to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The main objective of the climate talks is to agree a tougher climate deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, whose present round ends in 2012, to step up action to fight against global warming.
The world’s temperature could rise by 4 degrees Celsius by the 2060s in the worst case of climate change and require an annual investment of $270 billion just to contain the rising sea level, studies suggest.
