Shahriar to attend climate conference, German-Asian business dialogue Jun 4-5

Bangladesh is expected to highlight the impacts of two key issues -- climate change and Rohingya crisis -- at the Berlin Climate and Security Conference 2019 to be held on June 4, says an official.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam will represent Bangladesh at the conference and deliver speech touching upon the severity of the climate change and Rohingya crisis with their impacts on the region.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.2 million Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar district of the country and much of Bangladesh's forest is getting destroyed creating environmental disasters due to the presence of the huge Rohingya population.

Some 4300 acres of hills and forests were cut down to make temporary shelters for Rohingyas and ensure facilities and cooking fuel for them in Ukhia and Teknaf of Cox's Bazar threatening the biodiversity of the ecologically critical areas of the country, according to a report of the United Nations.

Meanwhile, State Minister Shahriar Alam will represent Bangladesh at the 4th German-Asian Business Dialogue to be held in Berlin on June 5.

During the last two years, German trade with Asia reached a new peak, said Mark Hauptmann, Member of the German Bundestag.

He said Asia and Germany are interconnected economically in many ways, and there is a continuing mutual interest. "Asia has a great investment potential for German and European companies. "With high growth rates, low inflation and little unemployment, Asian markets offer long-term opportunities."

The event connects German and Asian business representatives with each other and with decision makers from parliaments, ministries, and the diplomatic corps.

Vital issues like digitalisation, automation, smart cities and innovative technologies will be discussed at the event to be opened by a high-profile German-Asian Ministers' Dialogue.

On the other hand, the German Federal Foreign Office, in partnership with Adelphi and the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), is hosting the Berlin Climate and Security Conference.

Germany has made the link between climate change and security policy a top priority for its two-year term (2019-2020) as a UN Security Council (UNSC) elected member.

To further strengthen UN engagement on the issue and help enable the UN to better respond to these risks, Germany, together with Nauru, established the Group of Friends on Climate and Security within the United Nations on 1 August 2018.

The conference is intended as a wake-up call that the climate crisis is not just an environmental and development issue, but represents a core risk to global peace and prosperity, said the organisers.

It will highlight the foreign policy relevance of climate policy, and the necessity of building a preventative framework for action at the global level.

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