Britain, Bangladesh urge climate change action

By Jeremy Lovell

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain joined forces on Wednesday with Bangladesh, one of the countries most prone to climate change, in calling for more money and a new world deal to combat the catastrophic consequences of global warming.

The call came at a meeting in London led by British International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander and Mirza Azizul Islam, finance adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh.

"Climate change is today's crisis, not tomorrow's risk and is already affecting millions of people in Bangladesh," Alexander said, noting rising sea-levels and falling crop yields in the world's sixth most populated country.

"But adaptation on-the-ground is not enough. We believe more must be done at a global level," he added.

He announced a 75 million pounds ($132 million) finance package to help Bangladesh, where some 70 million people are expected to be affected by flooding by mid-century, adapt to the ravages of global warming.

Bangladesh outlined its Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan to help it cope with the climate crisis.

The plan aims to boost food security, develop a full disaster response plan, build more cyclone shelters and raised housing, cut carbon emissions and improve early warning systems.

Climate change will hit Bangladesh's 153 million people from all sides -- rising sea levels in the south and droughts in the north, with more river erosion from melting glaciers and higher disease risk due to greater humidity.  Continued...