Mintoo holds four bilateral meetings on sidelines of COP17

The meetings focused on combating land degradation and drought, strengthening climate resilience, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, renewable energy, trade, labour migration and institutional cooperation, said a PID handout today.

Mintoo said stronger regional and international partnerships are essential to addressing cross-border challenges such as climate change and land degradation.

"Bangladesh is willing to share its experience and capacities with partner countries while learning from successful initiatives undertaken by them," he said.

At a meeting with Indian Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav on August 24, the two sides discussed ways to further expand longstanding environmental and climate cooperation between Bangladesh and India.

They discussed cooperation in climate-resilient agriculture, efficient water-resource management, drought-risk reduction, and forest and biodiversity conservation.

The two sides also discussed protecting the Sundarbans and coastal ecosystems in the Bay of Bengal, expanding the use of remote sensing and GIS technologies, and enhancing technical capacity.

They also explored cooperation in renewable and clean energy, including the exchange of experience and technology in solar power, battery energy storage, land-efficient renewable energy and environmentally friendly energy management.

At a meeting with Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh last Tuesday, the two sides discussed ways to further strengthen friendly relations and diplomatic cooperation, including the opening of embassies in Bangladesh and Mongolia.

They also discussed expanding bilateral trade, particularly increasing Bangladesh's exports of agricultural products, processed food, pharmaceuticals and ready-made garments to Mongolia.

The possibility of creating safe and regular employment opportunities for skilled and semi-skilled Bangladeshi workers in Mongolia's construction, services and agricultural sectors was also discussed.

The two sides stressed the importance of government-to-government arrangements, skills recognition and protection of migrant workers.

At a meeting with IOM Deputy Director General for Operations Ugochi Daniels on 26 August, views were exchanged on the links between climate change and migration, strengthening the resilience of climate-vulnerable communities and ensuring safe, orderly and regular migration.

The meeting underscored the need for stronger international cooperation to address climate-induced human mobility.

At another meeting with Mongolian Minister of Environment and Climate Change Sandag-Ochir Tsend yesterday, the two sides discussed institutionalising environmental and climate cooperation between Bangladesh and Mongolia.

They agreed to explore the preparation of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on environmental and climate cooperation, with potential areas including land restoration, biodiversity, climate adaptation, sustainable natural-resource management and capacity building.

Bangladesh expressed interest in learning from Mongolia's experience in rangeland management, desertification control and drought resilience, while offering to share its experience in restoring wetlands, coastal areas and community-based ecosystems.

The two sides also discussed cooperation in GIS and remote sensing, drought early-warning systems, expert exchanges, training, joint research and pilot projects.

Mintoo expressed hope that the meetings on the sidelines of COP17 would help further strengthen practical cooperation with partner countries and organisations and give a new dimension to Bangladesh's international partnerships in environment, climate resilience and sustainable developme