The New Nation - Internet Edition

bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Foreign minister Dipu Moni has said the upcoming Copenhagen talks must have the provision of giving funds to the affected countries in the "form of grant, not loan" to help people to adapt to climate change.

Addressing the Climate Vulnerable Forum in the Maldives on Tuesday, the minister also said the developed countries must allocate necessary funds in addition to their overseas development assistance to victim countries.

She said some 20 million people in Bangladesh would turn environmental refugees by 2050 due to climate change which would inundate 30 percent land of the country.

"The Copenhagen conference must agree on an adaptation fund with adequate resources at its disposal," Moni said in her speech made available to the media by the foreign ministry.

"Adaptation and technology transfer funding must come in the form of grants, not loans, and more importantly this financing must be distinct from and in addition to the already committed ODA," said the foreign minister.

She urged the developed countries to immediately fulfil their commitment of overseas development assistance to the developing and the least developed countries.

The Maldives government organised the two-day conference of countries considered to be hugely affected by climate change. Leaders of 17 countries have been taking part in the Male conference ahead of the crucial Copenhagen talks in December.

The leaders will adopt the Male Declaration that will be placed in Copenhagen as a means of putting pressure on the international community to combat climate change.

Negotiations are still on whether the climate vulnerable countries will get funds as loan or in the form of grants.

She said the climate vulnerable countries were not polluters, but sufferers of global warming.

The foreign minister said Bangladesh spent over $10 billion to build structures such as coastal polders and embankments to fight natural calamities.

But climate change, she said, would increase frequency of natural disasters and cause damage to the structures.

Moni said Bangladesh needed more funds to carry out dredging of major rivers and reclaiming of land in future to fight the consequences of climate change.

"Such activities would entail huge costs, and therefore, I call upon the international community to underwrite these expenses," she said.

"This is a question of our survival as a nation."

Representatives from Bangladesh, Barbados, Costa Rica, East Timor, Ethiopia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, the Maldives, Nepal, the Philippines, Rwanda, Vanuatu and Vietnam have attended the Male conference.

According to the prediction of the International Panel Climate Change, chain island nations such as Maldives, Kiribati and Tuvalu may be wiped out from the world map by 2100 if the international community fails to reduce green house gas emission according to the present levels.