‘Delta Coalition’ expresses concern over climate change report from Dhaka meeting

The intergovernmental ‘Delta Coalition’ has expressed their concern over the climate change report that showed massive impacts of climate change both in urban and rural lives.

According to the 5th assessment report of the IPCC, "the urban areas will face increased risks among other things, for people, health, assets and economies."

On the other hand, the rural area will experience major impact on water availability and supply, food security, infrastructure, agricultural income including the shifts in the production areas of food and non-food crops.

This will affect the achievements in food and water security, poverty reduction, raising the income level of the people in the deltaic regions and coastal zones.

At the ‘Dhaka Declaration’ of the Delta Coalition adopted after the second ministerial meeting ended on Saturday, they also acknowledged that financing is “indispensible” for implementation of sustainable delta solutions.

“Responding to the climate challenge requires collective action from all countries, cities, businesses, and private citizen”.

Delta Coalition is the world’s first international coalition of governments that have formed a partnership to deal with integrated management and sustainable development of the Deltas.

The Coalition currently includes 12 members from four continents. Bangladesh is the current chair.

Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Foreign Affairs jointly organised the meeting as the co-chairs of the Coalition. The theme of the Conference was ' Sustainable Delta for Life'.

Member countries including Egypt, France, Japan, Mozambique, Philippines, Netherlands, South Korea and Vietnam participated in the Dhaka meeting which also adopted 'Terms of Reference of the Coalition'.

According to the Dhaka Declaration, they decided to express their resolve to increase and demonstrate the visibility of the Coalition in various multilateral and international conferences and programmes.

They showed commitment to raising awareness at national levels in the deltaic countries in tandem with the civil society, academia and experts, funding agencies and private sectors to promoting and deploying a pragmatic response to the pressing delta issues and climate change.  

They also decided to launch a drive to include new members and observers and develop relations with civil society and academia to strengthen and enhance the knowledge base of the Coalition.

The meeting also decided to include Argentina as a new member of the Coalition.