2 UK ministers due today for climate talks

Two British ministers arrive in Dhaka today for high-level discussions on climate change.
The trip of Douglas Alexander, secretary of state for international development, and Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy and climate change, takes place less than 100 days before countries from around the world gather in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a new international climate change deal.
British High Commission in Dhaka says Bangladesh has a crucial role to play in the international negotiations, which are due to conclude in Copenhagen in December.
Douglas and Miliband will hold talks with the Bangladesh government and climate change experts about the key ingredients for a fair and ambitious deal at the forthcoming global meet. They will visit a char (island) to meet some of the people most directly affected by severe storms and extreme weather, and see how they are adapting their homes and livelihoods to live with climate change.
The ministers will also formally launch the 'International Climate Champions' project, a new British Council initiative in Bangladesh aimed at giving young Bangladeshis a voice on what should be done to meet the challenges of global warming.
Douglas said, "It is essential that a fair and sustainable deal on climate change is struck in Copenhagen. We need all countries to sign up to an agreement that encourages global prosperity without putting our planet in further danger."
"Bangladesh is at the forefront of the battle against climate change and there is excellent work already taking place to mitigate the effects we are already seeing there," he said.
Miliband said, "People in Britain with families in India and Bangladesh know at first hand the devastating consequences that natural disasters such as floods and droughts are already having on the region, but they also know that unchecked climate change will make this far worse."
"It's why Britain wants to get every country behind a climate-change deal at the international summit in Copenhagen this December. And it's also why Douglas and I are going to Bangladesh and India - to see how we can make that deal happen," he added.