UNDP for joint actions to tackle climate change

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Bangladesh has urged all concerned to work collectively to develop and advocate for concrete and tangible steps to be taken by Bangladesh as the leader of LDCs to halt climate change as well as to adapt and mitigate its risks.

The call was made on the eve of the Conference of Parties (COP15) on climate change to be held in Copenhagen in December next.

UNDP Bangladesh Country Director Stefan Priesner said it is important at policy and financing levels to explore linkages and synergies between climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction interventions, so that Bangladesh can stand out as the global leader of adapting the inevitable impacts of climate change.

He made the remarks during an inception workshop marking the start of the first climate change adaptation project in Bangladesh.

The project, 'Community-Based Adaptation to Climate Change through Coastal Afforestation in Bangladesh', is the first ever field-level project by the government that directly targets vulnerable people living in coastal communities.

The project focuses on coastal afforestation and livelihood diversification, which is a top priority identified in the Government's National Adaptation Programme of Action for Climate Change (NAPA). The five coastal districts in which the project will be operated are Barguna, Patuakhali, Bhola, Noakhali and Chittagong.

The project intends to build a natural embankment through coastal afforestation with silt trapping mangrove species, which will offset the adverse impact of sea level rise and at the same time form a natural protection against tidal surges.

"The afforestation will provide a protective belt against cyclones; tidal surges and sea level rise for vulnerable coastal communities and also create opportunities for future carbon sequestration. In this context I would like to call on the policy makers to expand this programme all along 700 km of coast line to reduce the imminent climate related risks", Stefan Priesner added.

The total value of the project amounts to 5.4 million US dollars (about 37 crore Taka). Of that, 3.3 million US dollars (about 22.7 crore Taka) is contributed by the Global Environment Facility/Least Developed Countries Climate Change Fund (GEF/LDCF), 1.1 million US dollars (about 7.5 crore Taka) from UNDP and 1 million US dollars in kind contribution (about 6.8 crore Taka) from the Government of Bangladesh.

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