Danish envoy identifies challenges for Bangladesh

Print Edition

User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

Dhaka

Saturday, 04 February 2012

Author / Source : Staff Reporter

DHAKA, Feb 3: Danish Ambassador Svend Olling has identified the challenges before Bangladesh for achieving sustainable development basing on green revolution and immediate preparation of technical framework and condition report as well as adequate bargaining instrument in the wake of the Rio+20 Conference. Rio +20 Conference is expected to be attended by over 165 nations on June this year at Brazil to frame a policy framework on sustainable development on green effects for the developed and developing nations.
Inaugurating the 14th biennial conference 2012 of Forum of Environment Journalist of Bangladesh (FEJB), Svend Olling said that the time is too short for taking preparation for the Rio Conference and Bangladesh as representative of the developing countries has a challenging role to play in formulating proper documentation for achieving sustainable development for those nations.
Olling said basing on the discussion that took place in New York on January 24- 25 on an institutional framework, technical negotiations on the major agenda have to be concluded.
But Bangladesh has to be careful so that the negotiation paper can focus on all the important features.
“Denmark wants fairer distribution of resources to ensure sustainable development across the world specifically in the least developed countries like Bangladesh. We remain firm to shift the paradigm by setting sustainable development goals,” he added.
According to the Olling, Bangladesh has to face another challenge to formulate the condition paper for negotiation because of the diversified characteristics of the agenda.  At one hand, the points of negotiation have to be done by the technically and financially capable levels and on other hand the nation has to face the experts specialised on environmental aspects.
Bangladesh has to make it certain the paper contains recommendation on the green development, green human development, resource development, green economy and poverty alleviation.
In order to face the challenges, Olling has recommended some ways to prepare an effective sustainable development agenda for the developing countries.
According to him, the sustainable development programme and the Millennium Development Goal cannot be duplicated and have to be implemented from their respective platforms and identities keeping a good correlation between the two.
He recommended formation of a sustainable development council with a mechanism where all the countries of the world would contribute their expertise and will fulfil their obligations.
He expected that in the proposed council all the countries would come up with common agenda with their respective political commitment.
In accordance with the recommendation of the European Union in Durban conference Olling also echoed the preparation of Green Economic roadmap where all the individual countries will make sustainable development project from their own knowledge and expertise with their own capacity and resource.
Olling also recommended separating the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and turn it into a full-fledged UN organisation or strengthen it at least as an independent institution.
He also recommended evaluating and measuring the gross resource of the country calculating how much can be produce and how much the resource will cost them exemplifying the open pit coal mines in Bangladesh.
He urged Bangladesh’s leadership and strong civil society support on the behalf of G-77 and least develop countries particularly in the Rio conference.
Hasan Hafiz, general secretary of FEJB, placed the report of general secretary while Arun Karmokar presented the treasurers report for the FEJB at the conference.