Ex-PMO principal secretary made special envoy to Climate Vulnerable Forum’s Presidency

Abul Kalam Azad, former principal secretary at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), has been appointed as a special envoy to the Climate Vulnerable Forum's (CVF) Presidency.

Azad will serve as the key representative of the prime minister of Bangladesh, chair of the CVF, to support the realisation of the objectives and priorities of the CVF.

He will work closely with the presidency to actively promote the interests of climate-vulnerable countries and take initiatives to global partners and other stakeholders, said a statement of the foreign ministry today.

Bangladesh assumed presidency of CVF and the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Finance Ministers, which had been announced through an online event chaired by Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on June 9.

Bangladesh, which took over the Presidency from Marshall Islands, can use the presidency of CVF to act as a champion for the urgent strengthening of climate action by all, especially to keep the increase of global temperature within 1.5 degree centigrade and to implement the commitments made at the Paris Climate Accords.

Abul Kalam Azad was the former chief coordinator for Sustainable Development Goals at the Prime Minister's Office and is regarded as an efficient bureaucrat.