Dhaka calls on all states to share responsibility

Dhaka has demanded that all states share responsibility in protecting people displaced by climate change and natural disasters, and mitigating their misery.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmud Ali made the demand while speaking at the "Nansen Initiative Global Consultation" held in Geneva on Monday, according to a foreign ministry press release yesterday.

The minister described the challenges Bangladesh faces due to climate change and natural disasters, and its diverse effects that would occur in the future.

Citing the fifth IPCC report, Ali said Bangladesh lost six percent GDP during the period between 1998 and 2009 due to climate change.

He added that as a result the country is likely to experience 15 percent increase in poverty by 2030.

He mentioned that one metre rise in sea level would inundate one-sixth of Bangladesh, which would displace 31.5 million people.

In the afternoon session, the foreign minister launched a book titled "A Tale from Climate Ground Zero: Climate Change, Land and People of Bangladesh".      

On the sidelines of the programme, the minister held bilateral meetings with his Switzerland and Costa Rica counterparts. Around 350 delegates from 132 countries attended the meeting.