An example of Best Practice

On 22 August 2009 after early of the afternoon, I saw a appeal for Akhter (about 12), a injured boy of BDR incident  at  somewhereinblog, a popular Bangla Blogsite, posted by Syed Saiful Alam. The appeal said  `Chaymash Ghum Jabot Ghum Nei Choke Bap, Moron Chai, More Na Keno?‘ means it spent sleepless for 6 months, waiting for dead, why did it not come? 

Akhter, a tea boy who sells tea at street and as per regular event, he did it on 25 February 2009 at Dhanmondi Lake, a distance area of BDR headquater Pilkhana.  He heard some firing sound, but thought, Mohora means regular training of armed forces. Suddenly, bullets hurts him. Then he could not able to say the consequences. He was a major wage earner of his family although he was a child by the law. His was taken at his villege and his helpless father tried to save him investing all his wealth. But he did not recover? So, his father requested the bloggers who posted this appeal to do something for Akhter.

The blog posts came there and a tremendious support occured, but most of these mental support! A few days the bloggers wrote against the newspaper blaming that they never serve the poor. It enhanced the cooperation among the bloggers. Some economic and logistics support were ensured and Akhter was taken to Dhaka again for his treatment. Today I read that, the prime minister extended support Tk.1,00,000 to Akhter.

People while finds positive in any issues and extends hands from heart, anything is possible. The blogger have proved it and shown the power of people! We should learn from it!

UN Summit on Climate Change

The objective of the Summit on Climate Change, which I am convening on 22 September, is to mobilize the political will and vision needed to reach an ambitious agreed outcome based on science at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

On 22 September 2009 – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is convening a Summit on Climate Change at UN Headquarters in New York. The Summit aims to mobilize the political will and vision needed to reach an ambitious agreed climate deal at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December. Guided by the Secretary-General’s background paper, the Summit provides a forum where Heads of State or Government can examine fundamental issues and find common ground in roundtable discussions. Key political issues that will receive attention are adaptation assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable; mid-term mitigation targets for develo! ped countries; slowing emissions’ growth in developing countries; financial and technological support; and institutional arrangements and governance structures.
At the Summit a luncheon by the UN Leadership Forum on Climate Change will also be organized. The latter aims to stimulate interaction between Heads of State/Government, business and civil society leaders and to discuss the role of business and public-private cooperation in the climate change debate, in particular focussing on food security; energy solutions; water security; sustainable enterprises and decent work; financing; and disaster preparedness and risk reduction.

GA Adopts Resolution to Establish a New Women’s Entity

15 September 2009    

After three years of extensive consultations, the UN General Assembly, on 14 September, adopted a resolution that takes the next step in the process that seeks to establish a new United Nations entity focused on the rights of women.

Four United Nations agencies and offices will be amalgamated to create a new single entity within the Organization to promote the rights and well-being of women worldwide and to work towards gender equality.

The General Assembly adopted a resolution late yesterday on improving system-wide coherence within the UN, and the text spells out the support of Member States for a new consolidated body – to be headed by an under-secretary-general – to deal with issues concerning women.

The resolution means the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues (OSAGI) and the International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW) will be merged.

In a statement issued today by his spokesperson, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “particularly gratified” that the Assembly had accepted his proposal for “a more robust promotion” of women’s rights under the new entity.

“An important step has been made in strengthening the United Nations’ work in the area of gender equality and empowerment of women, as well as in ensuring the effective delivery of its operational activities for development, which constitutes the other key components of the resolution,” the statement noted.

Mr. Ban said in the statement that he had appointed more women to senior posts than at any other time in the history of the UN, including nine women to the rank of under-secretary-general. The number of women in senior posts has increased by 40 per cent under his tenure.

The Assembly’s resolution tasks Mr. Ban with providing Member States with a comprehensive proposal outlining the mission statement, structure, funding and oversight of the new entity so that it can be created as soon as possible.

The Gender Equality Architecture Reform (GEAR) Coalition, led by the Women’s Environment and Development Organisation (WEDO) and the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL), consists of over 300 women’s organizations across the world, has been campaigning for greater recognition of gender within the United Nations system since 2006. It was officially launched as the GEAR campaign in February 2008 during the 52nd session of the CSW.

In a statement released Monday, GEAR said: “We urge Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to immediately begin the recruitment process for appointing a strong leader grounded in women’s rights and gender equality as the USG who will lead this process of consolidating the four existing entities.”

“We expect a broad, open search process to start promptly so that the USG is in place and the entity can be operational by the time of the Beijing + 15 Review at the Commission on the Status of Women in March of 2010.”

The coalition also said that Member States must address in a timely fashion all the outstanding issues required for the entity to begin operations, including the mechanisms for governance and oversight. Furthermore, donor countries need to pledge the substantial funding (about one billion dollars) to support the proposed strong field operation that the entity must have to be successful in fulfilling the promises made by governments and the UN to the world’s women.

“As civil society has always played a vital role in the UN’s work on women’s rights, we urge Member States and the Secretary-General to commit to systematic and on-going participation of civil society, particularly women’s organizations, in every state of the process at global, regional, national, and local levels including in the governing board,” the coalition said.

“This is an important and crucial step forward now it must be made operational without further delay,” the coalition declared.

Movement for Complacency not Enough, We Need Integrity! [UPDATE]

Dhaka, 15 September 2009: At last a peaceful half-day hartal by a citizens’ pressure group leaded by The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port observed in protest against the government’s decision to lease out three gas blocks to international oil giants.yesterday.  The committee gave the government a fresh one-month ultimatum to fulfil its five-point charter of demands by October 15  or on October 16, the committee will call a national conference to decide tougher action programmes, including hartals and siege,’ Sheikh Muhammad Shaheedullah told the rally. The five-point charter of demands includes cancellation of the model oil-gas distribution contract 2008, cancellation of the proposed lease of three offshore blocks to foreign firms, formulation of a new model production-sharing contract ensuring 100 percent public ownership, full implementation of the Phulbari agreement 2006 and punishment of those responsible for the attack on Anu Muhammad and others on September 2.   The committee will continue its campaign till October 15 to garner support for the demands.
As usual the committee said that the hartal has observed successfully. Hartal is an extreme programme to pressurise the government to make bound to fulfill the demands. Has it acheived through this hartal? If not, then how will we measure successful? Yesterday I wrote that the organisers generate movement for the sack of movement, not for getting any fruitful results. It has been reflected today!

Very begining of Today at midnight, a local TV channel broadcast opinion of M M Akash, a organiser of the committee. As a economists Anu Mohammad, Secretary of the committee and M M Akash, both are very reliable and respectable personality to the country people, particularly the people who are struggling for social change. As per opinion of M M Akash, Hartal declared due to continous pressure of youth activists of the committee. He also acknowledged that they could not make popular  the issues of gas exploration by foreign companies to the people till now. And he also said that the present government have two block, one block is positive to the committee and others block opposes them. Due to this reason, the government play a dual role to take decision.

Akash sir has given a very realistic analysis through his opinion, but he has failed to execute the strategy. As political context, hartal becomes an inevitable programme through series of public mobilisation and struggles. But the committee declare hartal without preparing the country people to showing it inevitable through their programme. Akash sir indicate that there is two groups in government. Yesterday I have tried to mention this. As a strategy the committee had a responsibility to strengthen the groups who are supporting them for a fruitful negotiation. Akash sir also said that if the agreement signed once, then we would have to go a long term movement. This is the reality which he expresses! The government has approved that Connoco Philips and Tallow will get the authority to explore gases from 3 fields of off-shore and they could get a great percentage to export it. In this situation, we should use our highest potential to negotiate the approval with the government while there have some strong supporters of the committee. Movement is essential, but skills of negotiation is inevitable truth for a visionary leader. All the people of movement realised it from their experiences of movement, and history also teaches it also.

The committee have declared a national convention on 15 October 2009; I think, this is a right decision! Before convening this convention, we should use our all effort to strengthen our friends within the government to create a atmosphere of discussion. If the discussion fails, then convention will decide the future action, it could be extreme level movement. We should know that gas exploration is not only a national issue; but it more global. So, be clear about strategy towards achieving cancellation of PSC Model 2008.  

Movement for Complacency not Enough, We Need Integrity!

Change that we need! But How? We can bring change through reforming the rules and regulation within existing  culture and practices of the state or we can bring change through breaking the all rules and regulations as well as culture and practices of the state  for re-building the society in a revolutionary way. Choice is ours!

But while people dream a revolutionary changes acting as reformist, problem occurs from there. Contradiction borns between theories and practices. And action is misleaded due to these contradiction. Consequently we dream as a losser just remembering our glorious history like Tebhaga Andolon, Fakir Bidroho, Sannash Bidroho etc etc etc. Recently we feel complacency from peoples movement at Kansat, Phulbari, Jatrabari and Sumsunnahar Hall. If we calculate the output of these struggles, we never find any positive changes rather strengthening the enemy.  It has proved that people have power to generate struggles, but most of the time, these struggles fails due to absent of proper strategy under a visionary leader. So, complacency is not enough, we need integrity to generate people struggle. A leader of people struggle must understand it.

Now, let us give a look on the contemporary situation of people’s struggle like People’s Movement Against Tipaimukh Dam and People’s Movement on Off-shore Gas Exploration. As per available information, I know that People’s have been uniting themselves against Tipaimukh Dam for last more than 8 years. But the issue is captured by some vested political groups after last national election held on 29 December 2008 for only serving their vested political interest. Recently, the government is preparing a package deal with India, and it is the time to submit the position of peoples interest strongly to the government and it is needed a strong negotiation and bargaining strategy of leaders who are facilitating the movement against Tipaimukh Dam. But no such initiative is taken till now. Is it not a stratigical failure? If the government signs a package agreement with India excluding any clause on Tipaimukh Dam, then we could call public meeting, press conference, street gathering including public strike; but what would we achieve from these movement. So, we need a visionary leader in this point who will take initiative before happening the incident. If initiative fails, then we would have a legitamacy to generate stronger people’s movement.

About Off-shore gas exploration, on 07 May 2008 during last interim caretaker government seven oil and gas companies submitted their bids in 15 offshore blocks out of the total 28. Australian oil company Santos International who have joint venture partnership with British company Cairn and Chinese-US joint venture Longwood Resources and Shanghai Zhongman Petroleum (LR & SZP)  appeared as the top bidder, making an investment proposal totalling $852 million under three Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) for six blocks. 

US oil company ConocoPhillips that submitted offers in common blocks. ConocoPhillips offered to invest $442.63 million under four PSCs in eight blocks. Chinese-US joint venture Longwoods Resources Ltd, in joint venture with LR & SZP, proposed to invest $170 million in three blocks. Cypriot oil company Comtrack Services offered to invest $61 million in two blocks under one PSC, Irish company Tullow Bangladesh $50 million in one shallow water block and Chinese oil giant CNOOC $115 million in one shallow water block. A seventh company, Korea National Oil Corporation of South Korea, submitted, a bid for a block along with a bank-guarantee proposal of $2.5 million without making any investment commitment.  

From these seven bidders, Two international oil companies (IOCs) — Conoco Philip and Tullow — were selected as responsive bidders for the nine offshore blocks in the Bay of Bengal by petrobangla during last interim caretaker government. But they could not sign contract with these company during their regime.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs of present government on August 24 approved awarding of three offshore blocks to international oil companies with a provision that would allow the IOCs to export liquefied natural gas. Under the provision, the foreign oil companies would be able to export up to 80 per cent of the gas discovered in their respective blocks.

On 02 September 2009, the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports brought out a procession in the city street raising voice against uneven energy deals with foreign companies for years, when police swooped on the marchers and used clubs, leaving more than 50 people, including the member-secretary of the national committee, Anu Muhammad, injured.

And it is the first time since the present government took office, the committee announced further protest programmes, including hartal in the Dhaka city on Today, 14 September 2009.

I have put here a chronological time period for making our understanding about people’s movement. As like the national committee, most of the people opposes this uneven deal and we want also to denounce the decision. But question is, is it appropriate time to go in a harder movement like Hartal without trying to negotiate with the government. As per newspaper information, some major supporters of this issues and member of national committee also who are now representing the nation as parliament members have opposed Hartal during meeting of national committee. So, why did national committee took the decision of hartal? It shows a mentality as movement for the sack of movement, not for getting any fruitful results. As per political strategy, the leaders try their best level to ensure soliderity of like minded institution and friends; but here it is happening opposite! They never count their own friends.

There had a lot of opportunities to make a negotiation with government and the committee missed it declaring a direct harder movement like hartal. It never get us any fruitful results rather getting some complacency, the committee should remember it. 

If the committee want a revolutionary changes in a over night, then it will be ended in nightmare. So, they should try their best level to negotiate with government for capturing maximum level output. If the committee thinks, the government will not negotiate with them, then what will be output. The agreement will be signed and the IOCs will explore the gases from off-shore field and we will just continuing our movement for the sack of movement! And another issues will be come, then another movement will be generating forgetting the previous. How funny the people’s movement is!

Digital Bangladesh: Dreams is Becoming Nightmare! Wake Up

About 10 years ago while I just get a computer and learns only Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word; I read a news on Paperless Office. Bill Gates dreams it. I was then a newcommer in the digital world having just a computer. As part of my work, I had to manage a lot of data and I had to provide specific information to my boss during net-meeting. So, I had to maintain a plenty of hard files and folders. While I sat at meeting, I kept some special note and kept these hard files and folders also at my backside table. For preparing the special note, I had to invest a great chunk of time which hampered my day to day work. Consequently I had to work 9 AM to 10 PM, only 11 hours in a day at my office. Reading the news of paperless offices, I discussed with my immediate boss and as usual he said me, `while a person get a computer;  he thinks, he will be Bill Gates; so left your thinking of paperless office! Just keep your mind at work!’  Yes, I want to work, that’s why I am thinking about paperless offices. But I never delivered it to my immediate boss; because Boss is right, if boss is wrong, then just remember that boss is always right! I read these mordern management approaches. But I never be frustrated. Once I found a option of filter at Microsoft Excel and used it. Terrible, Ureka, I got it!  I just created a master file in my computer and moved the all hard files and folders from by file cabinet and table. And I was able to provide any sort of data to anybody within a click. I completed my official tasks within a hour and rest of the time, I had not any tasks to perform! So, it got me an opportunity to learn more about paperless offices  from web. And once I realised, it is possible, but impossible for us! Because our stereotype management system who does not want to learn anymore. So, if we want to make digital Bangladesh; we need to change our mind-set first; then the system will work.

In the recent days, we communicate people through mobile and internet. Through the social networking sites, the people are connected now almost with everybody. The Bangladeshi youths are also most active in the diffirent sites and everyday expresses their own opinion as per their interest. But how extent we are enable to use these potential! Do you think about it? Yes! You must have to think, if you want digital Bangladesh.

While I visited Government Websites for collecting information, I felt frustration! A very simple work like updates, never done at these website. So, why have the government published these sites? Everyday, we hear the cry of digital Bagladesh, but no signs are shown in practical world. So, if it continues, dreams become nightmare! So, please wake up! We need really digital Bangladesh.

 

Package Deal Between Bangladesh and India

After four day diplomatic visit to India, the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh Dr. Dipu Moni briefed the jounalists yesterday at her ministry and said that the both governments are trying to sign a package deal on diffirent bilateral issues which are pending for long days. As per this package deal, the following issues could be solved through signing a a package agreement between Bangaldesh and India by next December during Inda visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

WATER SHARING OF TEESTA RIVER

During dry season, the river Teesta faces water crunch as India has constructed Gozaldoba Barrage in the upstream and divert water from the common river that enters greater Rangpur region of Bangladesh. Bangladesh and India had dialogues on sharing of water of the Teesta for years. According to Bangladesh Water Development Board, Bangladesh’s Teesta barrage (first phase) in the downstream covers irrigation of 750,000 hectares of land.

During the press briefing the Foreign Minister “We discussed and agreed to sign a deal on sharing water of the river Teesta.  Both the sides agreed to expedite the ongoing negotiation process so that a treaty is signed soon.” She also hoped that the agreement would be inked soon after the joint hydrological observation team comprising experts from Bangladesh and India prepared the draft on water availability and other related issues.

On the controversial Tipaimukh dam, the foreign minister said the Indian premier and ministers gave assurance that India would not do anything that can be harmful to Bangladesh.

EXTRADITION TREATY

An extradition treaty will be added at this agreement. As per the agreement, Indian citizens sentenced in Bangladesh would be able to finish their rest of the jail terms in India if they apply to Bangladesh government. This goes vice versa for Bangladeshi prisoners in India.

TRANSIT 

Bangladesh would have transit link to Nepal and Bhutan as per the latest agreement with India. In return, India would be allowed to use Ashuganj port for only transporting sophisticated machinery to Tripura to set up a power plant there, she said. Dipu Moni said India would sell Bangladesh 100 megawatts of electricity “on priority basis” after connecting the power grids of the two countries.

Verbal assurance on Tipaimukh Dam is not sufficient, it should be written as agreement. Pakistan is going to build a multi-millions dollar dam `Bunji Hydroelectric Project’ at Astore district located at controversial Jammu and Kasmir Region. Indian Government is protesting it while they are doing same at Tipaimukh Dam. The people of South Asia should come up with these issues for developing a common recommendations on water, transit and extradition along with trade and South Asian Security. The discussion of package deal between Bangladesh and India could provide us an opportunity to connect the South Asian People in a common platform for pressuring the government to resolve these  long waited issues among the countries. We should do it.

Focus on Integrity, Not Lead a life of Indulgence!

As many of the young professional, Popy has been working for establishing women rights for 12 years, serving at a  local non-government organisation. From her experiences, she has realised that awareness alone never change any situation, there have something beyound it which we need to address if we really act for changing society positively. Say, the garment workers are now much more aware about their rights; but they are hardly claiming it. They did not claim, because they know, they will loss the job if they claim rights. There have a lot of trade union; but the workers hardly belive that they will act for workers. Consequently they are showing reluctancy to join in trade union. At about every home, women are maltreated at every steps  irrespective of educated or illiterate. We read newspaper and saw, women having highest degree of university are tortured everyday at every corners of  the country. Are these women unaware? Oviously not! They are aware, but they are not finding any alternative, but to lead a life  in such inhumane environment. So, we need to indentify the hidden cause of accepting violation of rights in our personal life. 

Hearing the simple statement of Popy, I felt to circulate this statement for feeding the thoughts of future changemakers. I think, we should re-think about our development activism which indicates the statement in a simple way. 

The Prothom Alo, a bangla daily has published a news today where it said that about 60 percent of wife are tortured physically by their husband. These women are educated and socially aware also. So, why awareness doesn’t work here? The development practitioners about from all over the world recommends to increase awareness of people for solving his/her problems and we are spending a plenty chunk of time, labour and finance to only increase awareness of people thinking that problem will be solved in this way! But reality is, awareness never work alone; so we are reading the news again that 60 percent wives are tortured physically by their husband.

For changing the people or society or state, we should understand the power-relation of diffirent stakeholders. I discussed these subject at another places and I think, it is relevant with this issues; so I put it here once again. At my presentation, I said that change is inevitable if you want it or try to avoid it. But if you perform an proactive role for change, then you can make an pressure the change as you desire. In any society, there have a large number of people and groups who are actively performs for change for persuing their own interest. These are the power and change comes according to these power relation. 

Without calculating this power relation, we have lauched a lot of campaign on diffirent issues and agenda’s; consequently these are ended or died without getting any fruitful results. Most of the time, we fall in indulgence at development works which does not proof our integrity. Everyday the development practitioners at every corner of the globe exercises many of the methods and approaches to solve the problems. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t! Sometimes it is thrown to mislead! Development diplomacy occures in this way. So, we should focus on integrity, not lead a life of indulgence! if we want to solve our own problem.  

International Literacy Day, Again!

Halima (28), a domestic helper, having two daugther and a son, came to Dhaka from rural areas of Mymensigh for seaching livelihood. Most of the women came from rural areas, joins in the garments factory; but Halima  afraids to join there due to her illiteracy and lack of skills. Her husband spends the days in indolence and he has no headche to bear the family expenses. So, the husband makes some extra burden to Halima and consequently she left him home and came to Dhaka for searching employment for feeding her chicks. As a domestic helper, she hardly feeds her chicks from her earning,  only Tk.1400 per month from giving services at 4 homes. She never blames anybody for her fate, but herself and her poor parents who went to heaven without giving literacy to Halima. She thinks, if she could read and write, then she could join in the garments factory and earns more for feeding her child. A great learning she got from her own life; so she does not want to act the same which has done her parent. So, she asks  information about primary schools from her employers where she wish to admit her elder daughter. The employers fails to prodive her any positive response, because most of the employers do not know the location of the primary school; they just says, you can’t effort the educational expenses of your daugther while we also faces difficulties. Because education is a commodity here which is purchased by costs. But Halima never give up, she tries. From somewhere she is informed that Madrasha gives education of poor children free of costs; so she searches these madrasha, day by day after serving four homes in a day.

The story of Halima is not an exceptional case, if we search, we will find more and more around us at Dhaka city, particularly in the slum areas. Globally we have set a target to reduce halves of illiteracy within 2015. To reach the target, the global leaders meets and commits again and again; we get hope that now Halima could provide literacy to her daughter. But we disapponits to read the UNESCO report where they indicates till now about 7 crore 50 lacs child, including 3 lacs in Bangladesh are living out of education. Statistics, sometimes, mislead us; it supposes, the number of illiterate children never less than this counting. So, now we should provide the litteracy to these 3 lacs Bangaldeshi children from this day.

PM seeks world help to address climate-change challenges

The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, sought technological and financial supports from the international community, particularly resourceful developed countries, to combat the challenges of climate change as Bangladesh is considered one of the worst sufferers for the climatic disorders for no fault of its own.
Addressing the World Climate Conference-3 Thursday at Geneva International Conference Centre, she explained to the world leadership Bangladesh’s vulnerability to the climate change and apprised them of her government’s plans, programmes and strategies for protecting the country’s people from the disastrous impacts of the global warming caused by excessive carbon emissions.
Earlier on her arrival at the CICG at 9:15am (local time), the World Meteorological Organisation secretary general, Michel Jarraud, received the Bangladesh leader. Foreign minister Dipu Moni, state minister for forest and environment Hasan Mahmud, foreign secretary Mijarul Quayes, ambassador M Ziauddin, PM’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad and permanent representative to Geneva Mission Abdul Hannan were present.
‘I came here with deep concerns of our people, who no sooner had tasted democracy than confronted with critical, dire impacts of climate change,’ a worried prime minister of Bangladesh told her audience at the UN-sponsored WCC-3 meet.
 She observed that through the decades since independence, whatever progress the nation could achieve is being eroded by repeated and increasing vagaries of nature.  ‘There is no doubt that human-induced climate change is, to a large extent, responsible for these phenomena and, ironically, the people of Bangladesh are least to be blamed for them,’ Hasina said.
She said tackling the formidable challenges facing Bangladesh due to the climate change calls for help of the international community.  To substantiate her call for international aid, the prime minister informed the conference that Bangladesh is among the countries severely affected by climate change, and estimates indicate that 20 million Bangladeshis would require relocation due to climate-change impacts by 2050.
A one-metre rise of sea level would inundate a third of Bangladesh, and this would result in mass migration northwards, imposing increasing pressure on land and resources and loss livelihood of about 40 million people, the prime minister said.
Hasina further pointed out that the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction has ranked Bangladesh as the most vulnerable country to floods, third-most to tsunami and sixth-most to cyclones, in terms of human exposure.  At present, Bangladesh is experiencing erratic patterns of flooding and droughts, and these have also become a threat to ensuring food security, through sustained agricultural production.
 She said cyclones hit the coastal region regularly, causing tragic loss of innumerable lives and immense material damage. Besides, Bangladesh also faces riverbank erosion, landslides, soil degradation and deforestation.  An alarming phenomenon is salinity intrusion into the coastal areas, threatening the Sundarban, world’s largest mangrove forest—a habitat of rich biodiversity and UNESCO-recognised World Heritage Site.
‘The challenge to Bangladesh in facing natural disasters from global warming and climate change is monumental,’ she told the global meet on the most worrying problem that threatens the planet as a whole.  Hasina continued: Bangladesh, due to its geographical location, has faced natural disasters and, therefore, invested over $10 billion since its independence on flood-management schemes, coastal polders, cyclone and flood shelters, and elevation of roads and highways above flood level.
Recently, she said, the government of Bangladesh has established a Climate Change Fund, with its own resources, to expand community-based disaster preparedness, and adaptation programmes.  Bangladesh is eager to collaborate with world community in the areas of mitigation, adaptation, financing, investment, and transfer of technology for facing these new threats on mankind, she said.

Source: The Daily New Age, 04 September 2009

World headed for climate abyss: UN chief
Agence France-Presse . Geneva

The world is accelerating towards a climate catastrophe, the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, warned on Thursday, urging rapid progress in talks to cut emissions and tackle global warming.   ‘Our foot is stuck on the accelerator and we are heading towards an abyss,’ the UN secretary general said in a speech to the World Climate Conference.
   Ban, who this week visited the Arctic to witness first hand the changes wrought by global warming, warned that many of the ‘more distant scenarios’ predicted by scientists were ‘happening now.’
   ‘Scientists have been accused for years of scaremongering. But the real scaremongers are those who say we cannot afford climate action — that it will hold back economic growth,’ he said.
   ‘They are wrong. Climate change could spell widespread disaster,’ Ban warned.
   The UN leader pinned his hopes of a breakthrough on a summit of world leaders in New York this month to discuss climate change.
   Talks on extending the Kyoto protocol on emissions cuts in time for December’s Copenhagen conference had been too limited and slow, he said.
   ‘We have 15 negotiating days left until Copenhagen. We cannot afford limited progress. We need rapid progress,’ he added, criticising ‘inertia’ towards climate change.
   The UN chief warned that the price of failure in Copenhagen would be high ‘not just for future generations, but for this generation.’
   Ban later reiterated that a pledge by the Group of 8 industrialised countries this summer for a long-term 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050 was not sufficient.
   ‘I continue to believe that they should have a mid-term target, I’m going to continue on that with the G8 and G20 (leading economies),’ he told journalists.
   The UN secretary general has carried out several climate-related visits since he took the helm of the world body, including to Antarctica. He also saw advancing deserts in Chad and the diminishing Amazonian rainforest in Brazil.
   Visibly sobered by his Arctic visit, he warned that rising sea levels, partly generated by melting ice in the polar region, would threaten major cities and potentially up to 130 million people.
   Climate change was also triggering a rush for natural resources in the Arctic as sea passages opened up, he warned.

Source: The Daily New Age, 04 September 2009

India carbon emmissions to triple by 2030

 

Agence France-Presse . New Delhi

India’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions are expected to nearly triple in the next two decades, but will still remain below the current global average, a government-backed report said.
   The data released late on Wednesday showed the current per capita rate at around 1.2 tonnes per year, compared to the global average of 4.22 tonnes.
   Five different studies released by independent institutions concluded that India’s per capita emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent would reach 2.1 tonnes in 2020 and 3.5 tonnes in 2030.
   India’s per capita output is one of the lowest globally, but given its massive population it is one of the top polluters in the world.
   Speaking at the launch, the environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, said the data would help to inform debate at global climate change talks in Copenhagen in December.
   ‘India should be seen to be part of the solution,’ he said.
   But Ramesh cautioned that the numbers were ‘open to peer review’ and that the government did not agree with all of them.
   The studies found that India’s total emissions are estimated to reach between four billion and 7.3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2031.
   India has long rejected binding carbon emission targets on the grounds that they would hinder economic growth and development.
   More than 180 nations are due to negotiate an agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol climate treaty in Copenhagen in December.
   Ramesh reiterated a promise by the prime minister, Manmohan Singh, that India’s per capita emissions would never exceed those of developed nations, but credited energy efficiency options rather than mitigation strategies for the projections.

Source: The Daily New Age, 04 September 2009