Thousands of banned polythene shopping bags have reappeared, again exposing the people across the country to the threat of severe environmental degradation, because the government is taking no measures against the manufacturing, marketing and use of the bags.
The government is likely to develop an open pit coal mine at the Barapukuria coal field at Dinajpur, where land subsidence has taken place following the underground mining of coal.
Participants in a seminar on Monday stressed the need for utilising huge quantity of household wastes produced in the Rajshahi city everyday.
Household wastes can be turned in assets such as gas and fertiliser by properly utilising them, they told the seminar held at Nagar Bhaban in the city.
More awareness and newer strategies are essential to minimise losses caused by natural disasters, said experts at the inaugural session of an international workshop on Wednesday.
Leading scientists, academics and policy experts on Monday called for smooth implementation of the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, 2008 and National Adaptation Plan of Action with necessary public consultation and update to help ensure food, water, energy and livelihood securities.
The government is formulating regulations necessitating healthcare facilities to have safe disposal and management of medical wastes that can expose people to various diseases such as hepatitis, HIV, tuberculosis, gangrene and tetanus.
For Bangladesh to be able to have its voice heard in the marathon negotiations between January and December 2009, it needs to have a full-time climate change negotiating team in place, which will be able to participate in the negotiations on a continuous basis for the next twelve months,
writes Saleemul Huq
The call to open negotiations for industrialised countries of the north to accept up to 30 million climate change migrants from Bangladesh is one that may defy plausibility in the world we live in today, and yet may become a compelling reality as we approach the year 2050.
