Experts for national consensus to address climate challenges

Researchers and environmentalists at a discussion yesterday stressed the need for a national consensus to address the growing challenges of climate change.

Taking part in a debate over a motion, "Paris agreement is an opportunity, not a challenge for Bangladesh", they said there should be necessary political willingness to take unified actions to curb climate change effects.

In the wake of the COP21 Paris Agreement, the High Commission of Canada and Informatics and Development (IID) jointly organised the discussion on climate change and Bangladesh at a city hotel.

Environment and Forests Minister Anwar Hossain Manju and executive chair of Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) Simon Maxwell, among others, spoke at the discussion.

The speakers said Bangladesh looked towards a legally-binding agreement in COP21 to keep climate global warming under 2 degree Celsius along with urging for grants instead of soft loans from the Green Climate Fund.

Calling upon the government to involve private sector in efforts for addressing Bangladesh's climate change, they said it is a challenge for the government now to live up to its promises and make headway in global climate change efforts.

The discussion was arranged to discuss policy challenges posed by climate change in Bangladesh in light of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (COP21) held in Paris last month.