The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Civil society groups of the South Asia at a consultation in the city demanded that climate change and its effects and immediate remedies should be the key agenda item at the G8 summit that will be held at the middle of this year in Hokkaido in Japan.

The UN climate change process commits to a legally binding target of a minimum of 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050. Any commitments on climate change made at the G8 summit should be on a fair and equitable basis, they demanded.

Voices of the poorest and most marginalised people are heard and listened to during all negotiations relating to climate change. Immediate agreements on increased funding for poor nations to adapt to climate changes and further these commitments must be over and above any existing international aid commitments, they added.

The World Bank and all other donors should stop funding fossil fuel exploitation and honour its earlier commitments that such funding should not contribute to climate change, whose impacts hit poor people disproportionately hard, the speakers demanded. National governments should adopt environmental friendly and low emission industrial practices and pro-people development plans. People should be involved in screening all such industrial and mega projects that causes damages to ecology and livelihood resources of majority of people, they also demanded.

The South Asia civil society consultation on "Climate Change: Bali to Hokkaido-What next?" organised by CAMPE at BRAC Centre Inn yesterday.

Rasheda K Choudhury, Adviser for Primary and Mass Education and Women and Children Affairs, was present as chief guest, while Dr Quazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, President of Bangladesh Economic Association, chaired the session.

Hua Du, Country Director of Asian Development Bank (ADB), Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, Indian High Commissioner, Masayuki Inoue, Japanese Ambassador, Touhid Hossain, Foreign Secretary, Anil Kumar Singh, Convener of South Asia Facilitation Group, Tasneem Athar, Deputy Director of CAMPE, among others, spoke at the concluding session of the consultation.

Hua Du said, "The developing countries like Bangladesh mostly bear the consequences of climate change though they have the least contribution to build up greenhouse gases."

"The world community needs a clear vision and strategy to immediately reduce and stop emission of greenhouse gases and to contain climate for sustainable development and also to protect lives and properties of millions of people, particularly the poor," she said.

Primary and Mass Education Adviser said, "We want economical, social and environmental justice. Climate change is a political issue. Adaptation theory would help to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases."

Pinak Ranjan said, "Poverty is the vast polluters, which is barrier for the sustainable development in the South Asian region."

Anil Singh said, "The climatic changes are damaging livelihood resources of majority of the population especially the vulnerable groups like women, children, peasants, fisher folk, forest dwellers and several other groups that are dependent directly on natural resources."

Rich nations immediately agree to increase funding to meet the adaptation needs of poorer nations. This commitment must be over and above existing commitments on aid flows, said the speakers.

Representatives from the South Asian countries and government and non-government organisations of Bangladesh attended the consultation.