DHAKA, – British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Chatterton Dickson today said the United Kingdom (UK) and Bangladesh can form a great partnership to lead global efforts to tackle climate change.

Robert Dickson was addressing a discussion here at his residence to convey the UK’s ambition for this year’s UN climate change conference (COP 26) and its growing collaboration with Bangladesh for advancing the climate agenda towards COP 26 and beyond.

British High Commissioner termed Climate change as the defining issue of their time, said a press release. “Our combined expertise and leadership mean we can work together to raise the world’s ambition before and during COP26, seeking global commitment on adapting to climate impacts and
building resilience for the future,” he added.

Ziaul Hasan, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Focal Point for Bangladesh, delivered the keynote speech.

Ziaul Hasan was joined by four distinguished participants of COP25: Sultana Afroz, Additional Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, Dr Saleemul Huq, Director, International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCAD) and Adviser to the Least Developed Countries Group in UNFCCC; Mohammed Malik, Infrastructure Development Company Ltd.; Sharaban Tahura Zaman, Lecturer, Department of Law, North South University, and LDCs group negotiator at COP25. ActionAid Bangladesh Country Director Farah Kabir was also present, among others.

DFID Country Representative Judith Herbertson said DFID is planning a new programme to support adaptation to, and mitigation of, climate change as well as environmental management in Bangladesh as she delivered the closing remarks.

“Our vision is that through our partnership and our programming, we can show what can be done to clean up growth and build resilience across the country; and share this expertise with other countries,” she added. The United Kingdom, in partnership with Italy, will host COP 26 this year in November in Glasgow.

More than 30,000 people are expected to attend the conference, including heads of state and government; experts; and campaigners. Delegates will be discussing ambitious ways in which the world can lower emissions to keep global temperatures below 1.5 degrees of warming, the press release added.

Since 2008, the UK and Bangladesh jointly helped over 27 million people gain access to early warning systems for floods and cyclones, and provided emergency assistance and recovery support after disasters to more than 900,000 people.

The UK is already a key partner to Bangladesh on disaster management and resilience building. While the UK is gearing up for the presidency of  COP26, Bangladesh is advancing its preparation to lead the Climate Vulnerable Forum and the Locally-Led Adaptation Action Track of
the Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA). And leading up to COP26, the UK intends to build a stronger partnership with countries like Bangladesh; a vulnerable country but increasingly resilient to climate impacts.

As the leading voice against climate impacts, Bangladesh can play a more significant role in the global climate change discourse through COP 26.