UNB, Dhaka :Bangladesh will seek climate fund for adaptation as donation not as soft loan in the upcoming climate conference COP21 to be held in Paris, France from November 30 to December 11.”Bangladesh always remains vocal for climate fund. We want that the financing will be ‘new’ and ‘additional’ to the existing foreign aid. The least developed countries are no more interested in getting loan for adaption,” Environment and Forest Minister Anwar Hossain Manju told UNB.A 39-member Bangladesh delegation, led by the Minister, will take part in the conference and raise necessary issues for climate negotiations. He said Bangladesh wants the Conference of the Parties (CoP) on Climate Change to reach an effective deal where both the developing and developing nations will get a guideline to follow till 2100 from now on to prevent future climate changes.The minister said, the Bangladesh delegation will raise voice for having allocation 50 percent for mitigation and 50 percent for adaptation from the proposed 100 billion dollar climate fund for the affected countries from 2020.Although the Green Climate fund allowed the 50:50 financing on principle, it has not been approved at COP yet, he said. “We expect preferential treatment to the least devolvement countries, especially vulnerable ones at the Paris conference…LDCs can be kept out of obligations in determining commitment for mitigation and giving priority while financing for adaptation,” he said.Sources at the ministry said Bangladesh will urge the developed nations to consider the issue of keeping global temperature below 2 degrees or 1.5 degrees till 2100 before taking any decision about mitigation and adaptation. Adaptation is the only tool for the countries like Bangladeshi to protect themselves from the impacts of climate change although it was given less importance compared to mitigation in the all previous climate negotiations, the sources said.”We hope the adaptation will get the equal importance along with mitigation in the Paris Agreement this year. We’ll make efforts to determine a global goal for adaptation like mitigation,” Manju said.He said Bangladesh delegation will work for a new agreement on ‘Establishment of a climate change displacement coordination facility in providing organised migration and planned relocation, for strengthening ‘Loss and Damage’.
