UNEP urged to conduct study on possible ecological disaster

He was addressing the debriefing session on 'Global Ministerial Forum', held in South Korea last week. Forum of Environmental Journalists of Bangladesh (FEJB) with support from the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and the UNDP organised the session under the sustainable environment management programme.

Environment and Forest Secretary Syed Tanveer Hussain and IUCN Country Director Dr Ainun Nishat also addressed the session with FEJB chairman Quamrul Islam Chowdhury in the chair.

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Shajahan Siraj mentioned that the Bangladesh proposal for considering coastal zones as an integral part of the freshwater management was included in the declaration of the ministerial forum.

"The concept of integrated coastal area and river basin management should be promoted, and scientific management and institutional links between freshwater and coastal/marine management facilitated, considering existing experiences at national and regional levels," he added.

Quoting the Indian representative at the ministerial forum that India would conduct a rigorous and transparent environmental impact assessment before implementing the river inter-linking project, he said now New Delhi has to undergo this mandatory EIA before initiating its destructive river-linking project in consultation with Bangladesh.

Syed Tanveer Hussain emphasised on taking immediate measures to tackle saline water intrusion in the face of climate change caused by global warming and feared that it be aggravated if India go ahead with its rival-linking project for withdrawing upstream waters from the common rivers.

He said Bangladesh should try to access global carbon fund to introduce renewable energy, hydropower and solar power so that the country could protect the people from environmental disasters.

Quamrul emphasised the need for formulation of a national position for the up-coming 12th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development to be held in New York at the end of this month.

Dr Nishat underscored the need for carrying forward the position taken in South Korea at the CSD preparatory Global Ministerial Forum.