At UNCCD COP16, Bangladesh on Thursday urged global support to restore Dhaka’s water bodies, addressing pollution, encroachment, and ecosystem degradation, aiming for sustainable urban development and climate resilience.
Dr Farhina Ahmed, secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has called for financial and technical assistance from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to establish a Blue Network in Dhaka city.
This initiative aims to restore the city's rivers, canals, and water bodies, addressing pressing challenges like pollution and encroachment.
She also stressed the need for a Comprehensive River Health Assessment System to monitor and enhance the ecological condition of rivers across Bangladesh.
Environment Secretary Dr Farhina Ahmed made these remarks during a bilateral meeting, with Dr James Dalton, director of IUCN’s Global Water Program, on the sidelines of the UNCCD COP16 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Dr Farhina Ahmed said Dhaka’s urban water system, once the city’s lifeline, is under severe strain due to pollution, encroachment, and climate change.
Collaborative efforts and global support are essential to restore these water bodies and incorporate them into sustainable urban planning.
In response, Dr Dalton of the IUCN invited Bangladesh to join the Freshwater Challenge partnership program, which involves 47 nations and the European Union.
The program aims to restore 300,000 km of rivers and 350 million hectares of wetlands globally by 2030.
He highlighted that Bangladesh’s participation would align with its national freshwater restoration goals and contribute to the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030).
Earlier in the day, Dr Farhina Ahmed addressed a High-Level Interactive Dialogue on Sustainable Agri-Food Systems.
She emphasized the need for a supportive global framework to promote sustainable and inclusive agricultural practices in climate-vulnerable countries like Bangladesh.
She remarked that transitioning to agri-food systems that ensure food security while respecting environmental boundaries is critical.
Integrating land, water, and biodiversity conservation in agricultural planning is key to achieving this goal.
