The US and Bangladesh have shown interest in the ongoing cooperation to deal with the climate crisis the world has been facing, including the vulnerable people in Bangladesh.
This was made known at a meeting held at the US Department of State in Washington, DC on Monday between the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.
Bilateral ties and issues of mutual interest, including climate change, resolution of the Rohingya crisis, strengthening the economic partnership, labor rights, civil liberty, and elections all formed major topics of discussion, according to a statement by the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
The UN’s Global Climate Risk Index 2021 shows Bangladesh is affected by climate change and it is the seventh-most climate change-vulnerable country in the world, causing the Asian country 1% of its GDP every year, according to the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said.
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By 2050, rising sea levels may submerge some 17% of Bangladesh’s coastal lands and displace about 20 million people, it noted in an earlier statement, citing the study.
“It is an important fact that the relation between Bangladesh and the US has grown tremendously over the last 50 years –economically, our people-to-people ties, work we’ve been doing more recently on everything from climate to health, we very much value … and the generosity Bangladesh showed to 1 million Rohingya,” Blinken said, in his initial remarks in presence of the media.
Assuring Bangladesh of the US’ continued support for the repatriation of the Rohingya to Myanmar, Blinken observed that there is no safe environment yet for the Rohingya repatriation in Myanmar, Momen told reporters, quoting Blinken as saying.
Story was adapted from AA.
