DHAKA, 27 November 2020, (TON): Dhaka seeks a strong partnership with the UK to address the fallout of climate change that poses a threat to lives and livelihoods of millions of people.

At a virtual meeting with UK State Minister Lord Ahmed on Wednesday, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam expressed his expectations for a strong engagement of the UK both for Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) and Global Centre on Adaptation (GCA) South Asia.

Shahriar hoped that Bangladesh and the UK would build momentum ahead of COP26 due in November next year for a resilient world.

He said Bangladesh being a non-emitter country has constantly been bearing the burden of incessant carbon emission of the developed countries. For climate change mitigation and adaptation, Bangladesh has prepared Delta Plan 2100 and was the first LDC to establish a Climate Change Trust Fund.

Bangladesh also developed a national "Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan" and launched the CVF "Midnight Survival Deadline for the Climate" initiative for all nations.

Shahriar also cited establishment of the South Asian regional office for Global Centre of Adaptation (GCA) in Dhaka this September.

He highlighted the UK and Bangladesh's partnership in the track number 6 of Climate Action Summit of the UN secretary general, expecting that the UK-Bangladesh Climate Partnership Forum will bring these two countries together to share innovative ideas, experiences, knowledge, technology and initiatives to achieve greater progress on climate change.

British State Minister Ahmed highlighted that the UK as COP26 president and Bangladesh as chair of the CVF have a unique opportunity to play leading roles in the critical moments ahead for the whole planet.

He said the UK-Bangladesh partnership on climate action was built on strong bonds and hoped that it would last for long beyond COP26.

Ahmed expressed UK's commitment to double its International Climate Finance expenditure and its intention to spend half of the funding on adaptation and resilience.