Youngsters unite for solution-based adaptation
Youths coming from different parts of the country were at the centre of a day-long expo yesterday that aimed to promote sustainable products and services as well as encourage innovations for climate-change adaptation.
They came up with various environment-friendly products and shared their views in interactive sessions on how people can work both in rural and urban areas to bring changes in others' lives to mitigate climate change impacts.
The Earth Society with support from Climate Parliament Bangladesh, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Movers, and RR-Imperial Electricals Limited organised the "Climate Expo-2023" at Gulshan Society Lake Park in the capital.
The event was held to find how Sustainable Development Goal-13: "Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts" can be achieved.
Mikal Hossain Khan, founder of Projjolito Narail, said his organisation has been campaigning in remote areas of Narail district to inspire local farmers to use more organic fertilisers to grow their crops.
"These farmers are little aware about health hazard and risk to the environment that mineral fertiliser may pose," he said.
Ahsan Rony, founder of Green Savers, said his organisation has been campaigning for rooftop gardening keeping advanced urban farming in mind in Dhaka city for over a decade now.
He said, at the beginning, they found it hard to get sufficient expertise to mobilse city dwellers in rooftop gardening.
Now, about 50 to 60 people who are technically expert in advance urban farming and known as "doctor of tree" work under the platform and provide services to citizens.
Journalist Iftekhar Mahmud said alongside awareness campaigns like the expo, the government must come forward with policies and actions for climate change adaptation.
Addressing the opening session as chief guest, Akhter Hossain, principal coordinator (SDG affairs) at Prime Minister's Office, said the government's latest SDGs progress report 2022 reveals that Bangladesh is an "early bird" in 16 indicators and also on track in 42 other indicators.
To address the climate change challenges, the government has prepared several key strategies and plans, he said.
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry Secretary Farhina Ahmed, French Ambassador to Bangladesh Marie Masdupuy, Shirin Sultana Lira, programme manager (governance, climate change and environment) at the Swiss Embassy in Bangladesh, and Mozammel Haque, senior governance advisor of UNDP Bangladesh, spoke at the event among others.
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