Time News Desk: Bangladesh will reduce GHGs emissions 7 percent unconditional and 16 percent conditional by 2030 as BAU Scenario by 2030, said Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Md Shahab Uddin.

“We have submitted ambitious updated NDC to UNFCCC last year 2021. Bangladesh is in the final stage to develop the National Adaptation Plan on Adaptation (NAP) to Climate Change. Bangladesh has signed and ratified all the major multilateral environmental agreements including UNCBD, UNFCCC, UNCCD, Basel Convention, Stockholm Convention on POPS, Montreal Protocol on ODS and so on”, the minister said.

Environment Minister said this in a meeting with Ambassador of Switzerland to Bangladesh Nathale Chuard in the conference room of the Ministry on Wednesday, says a press release.

The Minister also said Bangladesh, with its limited landmass, have declared 5.77% terrestrial area of the country as nature conservation areas consists of 48 Protected Areas and 13 Ecologically Critical Areas; with our wider seascape, we have already declared 4 Marine Protected Areas covering 6.20% of the total marine area of the country.

The minister said we have got a shining example of Swiss Development Cooperation to the cause of Biodiversity Conservation through the project "Community-based Sustainable Management of Tanguar Haor" implemented in three phases during 2006-2016 towards establishing a sustainable management system in the Ramsar wetland site of Tanguar Haor in North-Eastern Bangladesh. Bangladesh would highly appreciate and welcome Switzerland to revitalize her efforts towards enhancing resource mobilization to an optimum level so that our Biodiversity Conservation and Climate Change Adaptation Initiatives could further be intensified to conserve and restore all the important ecosystems in the terrestrial and marine areas.

Switzerland could further the cooperation to Bangladesh in terms of technical, technological and financial resources mobilization towards implementing development projects on concrete Adaptation and Resilience of the Community and Ecosystems, Biodiversity Conservation and Nature-based solutions. Hazardous Waste Management, Plastic Management and Introduction of Circular Economy.

Nathale Chuard, Switzerland's Ambassador to Bangladesh, said that Switzerland's cooperation in the areas of biodiversity conservation and climate adaptation and mitigation activities would continue at a steady pace.

The meeting was attended by Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md. Mostafa Kamal, Additional Secretary (Administration) Iqbal Abdullah Harun, Additional Secretary (Climate Change) Md. Mizanul Hoque Chowdhury, Additional Secretary (Environment) Md. Moniruzzaman and Additional Secretary (Development) Sanjay Kumar Bhowmik.