UK for joint partnership with Bangladesh to combat climate issues

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DHAKA, Jan 27, 2020 (BSS) – British High Commissioner to
Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson today said the United Kingdom
(UK) and Bangladesh can form a great partnership to lead global
efforts to tackle climate change.

Robert Dickson was addressing a discussion here at his
residence to convey the UK’s ambition for this year’s UN climate
change conference (COP 26) and its growing collaboration with
Bangladesh for advancing the climate agenda towards COP 26 and
beyond.

British High Commissioner termed Climate change as the
defining issue of their time, said a press release.

“Our combined expertise and leadership mean we can work
together to raise the world’s ambition before and during COP26,
seeking global commitment on adapting to climate impacts and
building resilience for the future,” he added.

Ziaul Hasan, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and
Climate Change (MoEFCC) and United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) Focal Point for Bangladesh, delivered the
keynote speech.

Ziaul Hasan was joined by four distinguished participants of
COP25: Sultana Afroz, Additional Secretary, Economic Relations
Division, Ministry of Finance, Dr Saleemul Huq, Director,
International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCAD)
and Adviser to the Least Developed Countries Group in UNFCCC;
Mohammed Malik, Infrastructure Development Company Ltd.; Sharaban
Tahura Zaman, Lecturer, Department of Law, North South University,
and LDCs group negotiator at COP25. ActionAid Bangladesh Country
Director Farah Kabir was also present, among others.

DFID Country Representative Judith Herbertson said DFID is
planning a new programme to support adaptation to, and mitigation
of, climate change as well as environmental management in
Bangladesh as she delivered the closing remarks.

“Our vision is that through our partnership and our
programming, we can show what can be done to clean up growth and
build resilience across the country; and share this expertise with
other countries,” she added.

The United Kingdom, in partnership with Italy, will host COP
26 this year in November in Glasgow.

More than 30,000 people are expected to attend the conference,
including heads of state and government; experts; and campaigners.
Delegates will be discussing ambitious ways in which the world can
lower emissions to keep global temperatures below 1.5 degrees of
warming, the press release added.

Since 2008, the UK and Bangladesh jointly helped over 27
million people gain access to early warning systems for floods and
cyclones, and provided emergency assistance and recovery support
after disasters to more than 900,000 people.

The UK is already a key partner to Bangladesh on disaster
management and resilience building.

While the UK is gearing up for the presidency of COP26,
Bangladesh is advancing its preparation to lead the Climate
Vulnerable Forum and the Locally-Led Adaptation Action Track of
the Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA). And leading up to
COP26, the UK intends to build a stronger partnership with
countries like Bangladesh; a vulnerable country but increasingly
resilient to climate impacts.

As the leading voice against climate impacts, Bangladesh can
play a more significant role in the global climate change
discourse through COP 26.