Bangladesh News

Visiting Iceland President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson yesterday suggested the creation of a Himalayan council for countries surrounding the Himalayas, including Bangladesh, India and China, to research and cooperate on combating the accelerating effects of climate change in the region.

Grimsson also said that the new security challenges rising out of the effects of climate change would be the central peace challenge of the 21st century.

The president of Iceland’s comments came at the closing ceremony of the International Symposium on Climate Change in Dhaka yesterday, Grimsson warned that environmental challenges such as water shortages and soil erosion threaten to sow the seeds for future conflicts.

He said global warming is “now several decades ahead of schedule” because the melting of ice-sheets in the Arctic and Greenland region, projected to occur in the middle of this century, has already begun.

Grimsson said Iceland could serve as an inspiration for switching to clean energy resources, with 100 per cent of the country’s electricity produced by clean energy sources compared to 80 per cent produced from coal and oil half a century ago.

He urged other countries to follow suit in transforming their countries’ energy systems, lifestyles, societies and economies to adapt to climate change.

The Iceland President said Bangladesh has become a frontline state in the fight against climate change and it must engage beyond South Asia in “more extensive initiatives and including countries that depend on the Himalaya region for their water.”

He said a Himalaya Council, modelled after the Arctic Council, could be set up to prepare for what might happen in the next few decades and inspire them to initiate similar programmes of scientific cooperation as the Arctic Council.

Grimsson also called on the international community to address urgent policy decisions, translating scientific knowledge into improved and effective ways of solving practical problems.

“Cooperation is called for more urgently than ever before and the sharing of knowledge and experience across national borders is absolutely imperative,” said Grimsson.

He quoted a recent report, saying “The multilateral system is at risk if the international community fails to address the threats associated with climate change.”

“It is therefore of the utmost importance to marshal our forces, both nationally and internationally, in order to reduce global warming, since the consequences of failure could aggravate old tensions and trigger new ones all over the world spilling over into violence, wars and military threats.”

Grimsson called on international authorities and governments to combine scientific communities, governments, business sectors and civic associations to lay the foundations for successfully combating the effects of climate change.