The 16th SAARC summit will be held in Thimpu, the capital of Bhutan, on April 28-29 with the theme: 'Conservation of Environment and Climate'.
The two-day summit will be preceded by the Council of Ministers meeting on April 27, Standing Committee meeting on April 25-26 and Programming Committee meeting of senior officials on April 24.
Briefing reporters at the Foreign Ministry on Saturday, Foreign Secretary Mijarul Quayes said the theme of the 16th SAARC summit is important as some of the South Asian countries including Bangladesh and the Maldives are most vulnerable to the changing climate.
Quoting environment experts, he said the Maldives will lose its existence with the rise of sea level while Bangladesh will lose 20 percent of its low lying areas in the Bay, which will displace 25 million people.
Quayes said though the Copenhagen summit (COP 15) on climate change failed to reach a legally binding agreement on lowering the greenhouse gas emission, but it was a first step leading to such an agreement at the COP 16 in Mexico in December this year.
He said SAARC council of ministers meeting in Thimpu will finalize a declaration on the climate change.
Besides, the summit is expected to sign agreement on trade and services, rapid response to natural disaster and cooperation in environment and South Asian Development Fund
Source: http://nation.ittefaq.com
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