The New Nation - Internet Edition

DU Correspondent

A six-day international symposium on 'Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia' begins at the city's Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel tomorrow (Monday).

President Iajuddin Ahmed is expected to inaugurate the symposium as the chief guest at 10:30 am. Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed will attend the closing session of the function as the chief guest at the same venue on August 30.

The President of Iceland Olafur Ragnar Grimson is expected to participate in one session at Joydebpur on August 27.

About 70 foreign and 200 local experts mainly from the Dhaka University and Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) are expected to take part in the symposium.

Sessions of the symposium on August 26, 28 and 29 will be held at the Dhaka University senate building while the sessions on August 27 will be held at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) at Joydebpur in Gazipur.

Dhaka University (DU) and Ohio State University (OSU), USA are jointly organising the symposium in collaboration with World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

Director of Carbon Management and Sequestration Centre of OSU Ratan Lal, UNESCAP Director Siva Thampi, FAO Assistant Director General Changchui He and WMO Secretary General Michel Jarraud will address the opening session with DU Vice-Chancellor SMA Faiz in the chair.

A total of 65 research papers on climate change and food security in South Asia will be presented at the symposium to be held in nine sessions.

"Distinguished climate experts from 18 countries including Bangladesh, India, USA, France and Iceland will participate in the symposium, as climate change is now the hottest topic across the world", Faiz told reporters at a press conference in this connection at DU yesterday noon.

Tracing the background of the symposium he said this is a follow up of the President's visit to the United States as a keynote speaker, of an international lecture on global warming effects on sea level rise, at the Centenary Celebration of American Society of Agronomy and Ohio State University.

The University of Dhaka, University of Oxford, University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, Princeton University, Seoul National University, University of Tokyo, Yale University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bangkok University, University of British Columbia and University of Amsterdam are among the invitees to the colloquium.

Registration for participation in the symposium is available at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel with Tk 1,500 each from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm today (Sunday) and 8:30 am to 9:30 am tomorrow.