PM to open Regional Global Centre on Adaptation, Bangladesh today

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DHAKA, Sept 8, 2020 (BSS)-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to open the Bangladesh regional office of the Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA) for South Asia today through video conferencing from her official Ganobhaban residence.

GCA Chair and Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte will also be present at the virtual event, said the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Ministers from South Asian countries along with Patrick Verkooijen, Chief Executive Officer of Global Center on Adaptation, will also speak at the launching event to be held at 3.30pm, said the media release of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

The opening of the regional adaptation center in Dhaka will be dedicated to the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

After the virtual launching ceremony of the regional Global Centre on Adaptation Bangladesh (GCA Bangladesh), Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen MP and Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md. Shahab Uddin MP will brief journalists about the GCA, its Dhaka office and its future plans and activities.

Following the briefing, experts, academics and representatives from South Asian and global organizations working on climate change will participate in the inaugural GCA South Asia Partnership Forum.

Partnership Forum will discuss on Strategy and Action plan for GCA Bangladesh office.

After the panel discussions, the thematic Ambassador of Climate Vulnerable Forum, Ms. Saima Wazed Hossain will also inaugurate Youth Adaptation Network.

The GCA regional center is housed at the new building of the Department of Environment at Agargaon in Dhaka.

GCA Bangladesh will have both international and locally recruited staff with some seconded officers from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

It is expected that the headquarters of the Global Center on Adaptation in Rotterdam will support GCA Bangladesh through a matrix structure, acting also as the Secretariat of CVF and V20, two climate-based important international organizations under the chairmanship of Bangladesh.

In addition, the GCA will serve as a Secretariat of Delta Coalition to contribute to important works related to blue economy.

GCA Bangladesh will also support Bangladesh in preparing and contributing to the Climate Adaptation Summit on January 22, 2021 and COP26 in November 2021.

GCA Bangladesh will facilitate and develop on-the-ground action in South Asia to accelerate adaptation and address climate change vulnerabilities across the entire region.

It will also mobilize international expertise to support Bangladesh’s challenge in responding to and continuing to prosper amidst our changing climate.