Environment Secretary Mahfuzul Islam yesterday said that climate change would extend the boundaries of diseases, including malaria and dengue fever, and increase the number of sick people in the developing world, especially in the tropics, reports BSS.

He was inaugurating an Introductory Workshop on "Preparations for Initial National Communication in Response to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change" organised by Department of Environment (DOE) at a city hotel.

UNDP Assistant Resident Representative Shireen Kamal Sayeed and Vice Chancellor of BUET Prof. Nooruddin Ahmed also spoke at the opening session chaired by DOE Director General Khondker Rashidul Haque.

Quoting the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on climate change, Mahfuz said health consequences would also be severe and without adaptation, the consequences of global warming and sea-level rise would be disastrous.

He pointed out that the IPCC Third Assessment Report had indicated that sea-level rise in Bangladesh could lead to almost 11 per cent of its surface area becoming flooded in next 50 years and 20 per cent in little more than 100 years.

Mahfuz said the situation in Bangladesh is all the more precarious in view of its geographic location, density of population and also due to it being prone to most of the natural calamities and tropical diseases, frequently in epidemic form.

National communication, the Environment Secretary said, has been among the requirements of UNFCC and the Convention requires the developed countries to submit their respective national communications detailing their policies and programmes to face climate change with annual inventories of their greenhouse gas emissions.

He said, developing countries, on the other hand, are required to detail their actions to address climate change and adapt to its consequences while preparing and submitting their national communications.

Bangladesh, he said, is under obligation to fulfil this requirement and as such, a project has been undertaken by the government with financial support from Global Environment Facility and United States Climate Change Study toward formulating the Initial National Communication.