Bangladesh Calls for South Asian Fund to Address Impacts of Climate Change

The head of the Environment and Forest Ministry of Bangladesh has proposed an international fund to help South Asian countries combat climate change and has asked that developed nations make significant contributions. Speaking at the opening of climate change talks preceding a meeting of environment ministers from nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the minister noted that Bangladesh has already allotted $44 million of its annual budget to dealing with the effects of climate change. Twenty million Bangladeshis would be displaced by a one-meter rise in sea level, a change projected to occur over the next 50 years. Much of the rest of low-lying South Asia is also at risk from sea level rise, more violent storms, and extreme drought.