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Give top priority to worst victims

Hasina tells UN, rich nations about climate change impact

HASAN JAHID TUSHER,/rom Rome
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the UN and the advanced developed countries to give priority to the most vulnerable countries (MVC) and least developed countries (LDC) and keep them in a separate group to face the effect of the climate changes caused by global warming.
And there should be a separate adaptation and mitigation fund for MVCs and LDCs to face the consequences due to climate change, the premier said while addressing a joint working dinner with heads of 10 government and state here in the Italian capital Rome Monday night.
The dinner was organised jointly by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Italian Foreign Minister Frattini. Sheikh Hasina also said the climate funds should not be loans but grants and there should be no conditionality. “Such fund must be additional and distinct from ODA targets of 0.7 percent of their Gross National Income for developing countries and 0.2 percent for LDCs as affirmed by the Brussels programme of action,” said Hasina.
She arrived in Rome on November 15 to attend the three-day World Summit on Food Security.
The prime minister added that MVCs and LDCs do not want adaptation, mitigation, and technology transfer Support to be in one basket.
She said there is absolute necessity of a new legal regime under UNFCCC Protocol ensuring social, cultural and economical rehabilitation of climate migrants and refugees that Bangladesh and countries in both groups are witnessing.
Welcoming British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and European Union's climate financing proposal, the premier said they are inadequate in terms of need but good to start with. “We should go further and beyond the European Union proposal meaningfully,” added Hasina.
Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to co-chair a round table on climate change adaptation and mitigation challenges for agriculture and food security at the FAO headquarters around 10:00pm BST.
The prime minister hoped that it is possible to have a successful Conference of Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen. If the developed • countries could invest trillions of dollars in resurrecting the world economic situation, and spend three trillion dollars for armaments, they could surely contribute generously to the climate fund as proposed to be established in Copenhagen in December this year.
With a worldwide population expected to cross 9 billion by 2050, and increasing adverse effects of climate change, many unpredictable and difficult challenges might emerge, she pointed out adding that a dominant challenge would be the threat to the agriculture and thus to food
security.
"Bangladesh and other MVCs are, however, worried that in the current dialogues and negotiations on climate change issues, their concerns would be sidelined by the disagreements between the developed and developing countries,” she continued.
The prime minister said Bangladesh would do its utmost to follow the guidelines contained in the declaration by the World Summit on Food Security and fulfil its responsibility. Bangladesh also hopes the developed countries would carry their responsibilities as delineated in die declaration, and also commit themselves in Copenhagen to come up with a universally acceptable agreement.
Hasina said for Bangladesh and other MVCs, Copenhagen means justice, reconciliation and a fresh and united start for common safety of mankind.
“Therefore, in Copenhagen, we expect the outcomes to ensure binding specific cuts in greenhouse emissions from all major emitters. The outcome must also ensure legally binding commitments and addressing the adaptation needs of MVCs, low lying costal LDCs, and small island countries,” she said.
The prime minister is scheduled to leave Rome for Bangladesh around 8:30pm BST by an Emirates Airline flight via Dubai.