Environment Adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo urged UNESCO to expand support for climate adaptation, forest conservation and pollution control during talks with the agency’s Bangladesh representative in Dhaka.
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo on Tuesday said UNESCO’s technical support, knowledge sharing and investment cooperation are crucial to making Bangladesh’s forest conservation, environmental protection and climate adaptation efforts more effective and dynamic.
He made the remarks during a courtesy meeting with UNESCO Representative to Bangladesh Dr Susan Vize at his office in the Bangladesh Secretariat, according to an official statement issued in Dhaka on the eighth day of Boishakh, corresponding to April 21.
Mintoo stressed the need to modernise waste management, control water and air pollution, implement the government’s programme to plant 250 million trees over five years, strengthen conservation work in the Sundarbans and expand capacity building, training and investment to address salinity in coastal areas.
Environment, Forest and Climate Change State Minister Sheikh Faridul Islam was present at the meeting.
During the talks, Vize expressed interest in further consolidating and expanding cooperation in climate resilience, green campus initiatives, biodiversity conservation and environmental education.
She also discussed possible future areas of collaboration under the Man and the Biosphere programme and the Climate Smart Education System Initiative.
Vize reaffirmed UNESCO’s commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation on environmental protection and climate change, expanding joint initiatives and working closely to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
The meeting was also attended by the secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the additional secretary for climate change and senior UNESCO Bangladesh officials.
