Twenty-five action points to support sustainable development in the Chittagong Hill Tracts have been incorporated into the 7th Five Year Plan of Bangladesh, said Mr Naba Bikram Kishore Tripura, Secretary of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs of Bangladesh, speaking at the launch of a report titled “A Strategic Framework for Sustainable Development in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh” on 28 October 2015 in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Nepal Based organization ICIMOD organize a Regional Media Training Workshop On ` Air pollution, its sources and impacts, and mitigation options` from 17 July to 16 August 2015, Kathmandu, Nepal

Deteriorating air quality in the Hindu Kush Himalayas (HKH) region and the resulting impacts requires urgent attention from governments, policy makers, scientists, stakeholders and the public. Atmospheric issues are often neglected at policy making and local levels. The Atmosphere Initiative at ICIMOD, realizing the media’s important role in raising public awareness is organizing a training workshop for journalists to increase their understanding of the issues and complexities surrounding air pollution, its sources and impacts, and mitigation options. 

Established in 2013, the Atmosphere Initiative of ICIMOD is a part of the Regional Programme on Cryosphere and Atmosphere. It aims to improve our understanding of atmospheric issues and promote regional cooperation for addressing issues relating to air pollution in the HKH region. 

Parliamentary leaders from some 140 countries today declared that the United Nations must remain the cornerstone of global cooperation as an Organization that embodies the ardent hope of people around the world and pledged to place “democracy at the service of peace and sustainable development for the world the people want.” 

Meeting at UN Headquarters in New York since Monday, the more than 170 Speakers and Deputy Speakers of Parliament at the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament adopted a declaration today acknowledging that extraordinary efforts would be needed to build a world that people want by turning the tide against the many challenges that undermine democracy, peace and development.

 “The world is at a crossroads. The enormity of the challenges that we and our planet face is daunting. We must have the resolve to overcome them. How political leaders respond to the crises that threaten us has perhaps never been as important to our future as now,” said Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) President Saber Chowdhury.

 The world’s parliamentary leaders committed to bringing parliament closer to the people by tackling the growing public scepticism and disconnect with politics, social and political marginalization, gender inequality and an imbalanced power relationship with government.

Let me start with a brief historical overview, albeit in a selective manner, to put sustainable development in perspective. One may go back to the industrial revolution that started in Britain around 1750. Other currently developed countries followed suit later. In this procession, the US joined much later. But the essential point is that the main focus of industrialization was on economic growth, fueled by coal as the starter and later also by petroleum. Development of railway revolutionalized movement of goods and people. All these activities began emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) in a major way. The GHG emissions accelerated as the industrialization expanded in terms of production and distribution of machinery, equipment, coal-fired heating, vehicles and planes, consumer durables such as refrigerators and air conditioners, etc. The danger that began to grow slowly but steadily in terms of concentration of GHGs in the atmosphere to cause global warming was not recognized early enough.