MUMBAI: A conference on the global state of climate change will be held in the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka this week in order to look at the significant consequences of climate change across the globe. Called by parliamentarians, the conference titled “Meeting of Parliamentarians of Countries Most Vulnerable to Climate Change: Durban and Beyond,” is organized by Bangladesh's parliament and the ministry of environment and forests in the country in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). With only two days before the conference kicks off, India's ministry of environment is hopeful the meeting can establish some goals for the coming future. “We are hopeful as always on these conferences because it will give countries a chance to understand the nature of climate change further and enhance our ability to fight and battle for the future,” a ministry official told Bikyamasr.com on Monday. The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Abdirahin Abdi is expected to participate in the conference and to moderate a session on the role of Parliamentarians in influencing regional and international agenda. Other key guests on the program include Abdelwahad Radi, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, William Ferdinand Shija and the Speaker of Bangladesh Abdul Hamid. The conference takes place against a background of harsh climatic conditions occasioned by effects of global warming, and follows the Durban Conference of Parties (COP 17) held in December last year. “It shall among other areas, discuss the concepts of climate change and political impact and implications for Parliamentarians,” a statement from the organizers said on Sunday. “At the same time, the Bangladesh meeting sets the pace for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (RIO +20) scheduled to take place in June 2012 which lays emphasis on green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication. The Dhaka meeting will thus present an occasion to identify issues for Parliamentarians to advocate with their governments in preparation for the RIO +20 conference.” According to the organizers, the conference hopes to create a platform for Parliamentarians of the most vulnerable nations, in order to form and articulate a collective voice and agenda for climate change mitigation/adaptation strategy and disaster risk reduction, nationally, regionally and internationally. “Climate change is a cross-cutting issue, affecting not only the environment but society, food supply, socioeconomics, natural resources and disaster risk reduction efforts,” the statement continued. “The effects of climate change are most severely manifested through the increase in frequency and intensity of natural disasters, the exposure of new areas to climate-induced disasters and the failure of indigenous knowledge to cope with these emerging scenarios. As such, lawmakers in all vulnerable nations find these issues highly relevant to the climate change discussion,” the UNDP added in the joint statement. The three day conference is expected to take an integral approach and will analyse links between climate change, global peace, sustainable development and achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The EAC region is already critically focusing on climate change. The Community is in the process of implementing three policy documents approved by the EAC Heads of State Summit in April 2011 namely; the EAC Climate Policy (2011); the EAC Food Security Action Plan (2011-2015) and the Heads of States Summit Declaration on Food Security and Climate Change. The EAC only recently considered the outcomes of the COP17 during the Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Environment and Natural Resources that was held on February 1-3, 2012 in Arusha. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/h5AO2 Tags: Bangladesh, Climate Change, Conference, Dhaka, featured Section: Environment, Going Green, Latest News, South Asia
