Bangladesh will be affected more than any other country in the world by climate in the years ahead. Sea levels are expected to rise along with temperatures. Total rainfall is likely to increase, but droughts in the dry season will become more severe.

Ambassador Esko Kentrschynskyj, Head of Delegation of the EC announced this new initiative yesterday while launching the EC funded project titled `Environmental initiatives, waste management and technology dissemination in Bangladesh'.

The EC has made Climate Change Adaptation a key development issue to be addressed under this new call for proposals under the global Environment and Tropical Forests programme.

The issues include: Trade and environments, Multilateral Environment Agreements on Bio-diversity, Climate Change and Desertification, Forests and Governance, Small-scale and community-based forest enterprise, Forests, Wood and Energy, Sustainable use of forest bio-diversity, Forests in economic planning and poverty reduction strategies. Proposals can range in size from 250,000 to 3.5 million euros with a maximum 80 per cent funding from the EC, according to EC sources.

The EC is currently supporting 7 environmental projects in Bangladesh. The focus is towards urban environmental problems of water quality, effluent disposal and waste management, but also land planning and disaster preparedness. The emphasis is the impact on the poor, who suffer most from a polluted environment and are the least able to protect themselves, while everyone benefits from a clean environment.