Three-day Regional Climate Conference 2023 held

The three-day Regional Climate Conference 2023, which was attended by South Asian countries, concluded on Sunday (10 September) at Hotel Sheraton in the capital Dhaka.

Earlier, the conference started on Friday (September 8, 2023) in the hall room of Hotel Sheraton in the capital Dhaka.

Climate Parliament Bangladesh, The Earth Society, Observer Research Foundation (ORF) and Climate Parliament are jointly organizing the 'Regional Climate Conference 2023'.

Deputy Minister for Water Resources AKM Enamul Haque Shamim was present as the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the Regional Climate Conference 2023.

The deputy minister said such talks strengthen regional cooperation and mutual relations. I believe that south Asian countries will work together to combat climate change in the future.

Kanni Vignaraja, Director of Asia-Pacific region and Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, was present as the special guest. "Climate change is a big challenge to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. UNDP stands with countries affected by climate change. With our collective efforts, it is possible to build a sustainable future for all.

Members of Parliament from south Asian countries including India, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, ambassadors of different countries in Bangladesh, top-level policymakers, corporate sector, development partners, domestic and international organizations and people from different sectors participated in the three-day event. A total of 120 eminent personalities participated as panelists in 4 thematic segments and 19 sessions of the conference.

European Union (EU) Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley, Nepal's Ambassador to Dhaka Ghanshyam Bhandari, Dutch Embassy Deputy Head of Cooperation Thesez Weidstra, Deputy High Commissioner and Development Director of the British High Commission Mart Canal and Deputy Head of Cooperation of the Swiss Embassy Corinne Henchoz Pignani delivered special speeches at the closing ceremony.

Tanvir Shakil Joy, Chairperson of Climate Parliament Bangladesh, delivered the boat of thanks while Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP, Chief Patron of Climate Parliament Bangladesh and Special Envoy on Environment and Climate affairs of the Honorable Prime Minister, delivered the closing speech.

600 delegates from across the country and abroad participated directly in the three-day regional conference.

A total of 22 organizations, including public and non-government organizations, embassies of different countries, national and international development partners, are directly involved in this event.

On the concluding day, discussion meetings were held in three separate hall rooms from 10 am to 12 noon. In the first session, a roundtable of Regional Parliamentary Forum: Bangladesh Consultation South Asia Parliamentarians was held to enhance regional energy cooperation. Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Environment and Climate Affairs Saber Hossain Chowdhury delivered the inaugural speech.

Earlier, USAID Senior Executive Shayan Shafi delivered the welcome speech. Dr Mukul Sharma, director of climate change, was the moderator.

Mohammad Hossain, Director General, Power Cell Division, Government of Bangladesh, Namrata Mukherjee, South Asia General and Deputy Chief of Party were present as the discussants. Energy Partnership and Power Market Specialist Rajiv Ratma Panda. Dr Sanjay Jaiwal MP, Chairman, Climate Parliament India, was the RPF officer. MPs from Bhutan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka presented the keynote papers on RPF. The main points of the session were discussed by USAID India's Regional Energy and Clean Energy Expert and Mission Monali Zia Hazra. Mohammad Mamun Miah, Executive Director of The Earth Society, gave the vote of thanks.

James J. Schauer, Ph.D., PE, MBA presented in the keynote to Harmony with Nature: The Balance of Development and Ecosystem Management Session.

Peterson-Rader-Hawn, U.S. Science Ambassador and U.S. Department of State Professor William C. Boyle is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's University of Environmental Engineering. Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md Atiqul Islam served as the speaker. Helen LaFave, Charge d'Affaires of Bangladesh at the US Embassy, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, CHIEF Executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA). Bangladesh

Dr. Md. Mahbubur Rahman, Project Coordinator, Department of Population Studies, ICDDR-B. Nature Conservation Management: PhD, Executive Director, SM Manjurul Hannan Khan.

World Bank Senior Urban Transport Specialist Ushacha, First Secretary at the Embassy of Sweden Daniel Novak. Imran Ahmed,

Officer (CBO) Dr Asif Naimur Rashid, Session Chair was Mp Rana Mohammad Sohel MP and Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) served as speaker. Shafinaz Shamim, Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture;

Ahsan Adelur Rahman, MP, Additional Secretary (Planning) of Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad, Mohammad Nasir Uddin, Senior Program Manager of The Prince Foundation, Victoria Habde, Senior Program Manager of The Prince Foundation. Mohammad Fazle Reza Sumon, president of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, moderated the session.

The keynote speaker of the climate policy sequencing session for green entrepreneurship development was Sheikh Iskander, a visiting fellow at the LSE's Grantham Research Institute and a senior lecturer in economics at Kingston University. Member of Parliament Shamim Haider Patwari, MP, Standing Committee on The Ministry of Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, served as the Speaker. Sami Ahmed, CEO of Startup Bangladesh Limited, Nurun Nahar, Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Kajol Abdullah, CEO of Jaji Limited, Siddhartha Goswami, Idea Operation Team Lead of ICT Division were the moderators.

Charles Whiteley, EU Ambassador to Bangladesh, presented the keynote address of the session titled "Regional Cooperation for Sustainable Energy: New Architecture for Regional Power Governance".

Mp Vincent Pala mp was the speaker. Iran Wickramaratne MP, Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Climate Change (Bhutan) and Chairperson Gaim Dorji MP. Madhav Sapkota MP of Nepal. He serves as a moderator,

Wasika Ayesha Khan, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

Additional Secretary (Planning) of the Ministry of Industries Sheikh Faizul Amin presented the keynote paper of the circular expansion session to reduce plastic waste and combat climate change, while Bangladesh Jatiya Sangsad member and Member of the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief Mir Mushtaq Ahmed Robi mp served as the speaker.

Mayank Arora, MD, Coca-Cola Beverages Limited; CordAid Bangladesh Country Office, head of Programme Md Abul Kalam Azad; Shamima Akter, director, Corporate Affairs, Partnerships and Communications, Unilever Bangladesh Limited; Ishrat Karim, founder and director of Amal Foundation were present. The moderator was singer, lyricist - Chirkut, communication specialist-Salt Creatives, climate care worker, Sharmin Sultana.

Cleaning the air on climate change: how co-benefits of air quality can help drive climate action" was delivered by Dr. Farhina Ahmed, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Environment and Climate Change Ugen Tshering MP and Chairman of the Centre for The Study of Atmospheric Pollution (CAPS) Prof Dr Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder served as the speaker. Research Associate of Center of Peace and Justice, BRAC University, and Climate Action Champions Network (CACN), Tasnia Khandaker Prabha.

Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Environment and Climate Affairs Saber Hossain Chowdhury was the moderator.

Farzana Faruk Jhumu presented the keynote paper of the session titled "Towards Climate Resilience: Harnessing the Power of Youth to Achieve Our Common Goals".

Rumana Ali MP and Member of Parliament of Climate Parliament Bangladesh.

Shirin Lira, programme manager, Embassy of Switzerland was present as the instigator.

Sohanur Rahman, Mohiuddin Sourav, Sadia Afroz Esha, Aruba Faruk, SK Rezwana Kadir Raisa and Rubaita Yunus were present as discussants in the two-part session. Nishat Unzum was the moderator of the session.

Md. Omar Faruk Joy delivered the welcome speech while Zuhair Ahmed Kaushik gave the boat of thanks.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Affairs, Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Ministry of Water Resources and UNDP Bangladesh are the strategic partners of the conference.

ActionAid Bangladesh, European Union, Netherlands Embassy, Swiss Embassy, Shakti Foundation and USAID are the lead organizers of various sessions.

Coca-Cola and Grameenphone are the gold sponsors.

The co-lead organisation is the AFD- France Agency for Development and change initiative.

Standard Chartered Bank will be the sustainable investment partner and Unilever will be the sustainability partner.

Bangladesh Institute of Planners, Centre for Atmospheric Pollution Studies, Centre for Environmental and Geographical Information Services, Energy Institute-Dhaka University, South Asian Just Transition Alliance, US Embassy to Bangladesh, WaterAid and Youth for Care Platform are partners