Sri Lanka to present common SAARC positions at COP 15

Eighth SAARC Environment Ministers Meeting:

The Eighth Meeting of the SAARC Environment Ministers was held in New Delhi on October 20, 21, 2009. Environment Ministry delegations from all SAARC countries and seven Ministers participated.

It was noted that SAARC member states are vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change such as frequent droughts, flooding, melting of glaciers, deforestation and sea level rise.

Therefore it was decided that SAARC countries need to engage with each other bilaterally and need to take a common position at the Copenhagen Conference.

The ministers underlined a crucial importance of close cooperation in the run up to the UN climate change conference of parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC).

They also stressed the need to fully implement the commitments of the convention in accordance with its principals. The Meeting therefore agreed to present a common position at the forthcoming of COP 15 in Copenhagen in December 2009.

It was agreed that Sri Lanka as the current Chair of SAARC would present the common SAARC positions at COP 15. It was also decided to organize an appropriate SAARC side event on the sidelines of COP 15.

The Ministers agreed to adopt climate change as the key theme of the Sixteenth SAARC Summit to be held in Thimphu, Bhutan in 2010.

The meeting agreed to publish a compendium of SAARC National Plans of action of climate change before the COP 15 Conference in Copenhagen 2009.

The meeting decided that SAARC agreement on natural disaster rapid response mechanism would be finalized and it could be formally signed by Head of States in April, 2010 in Thimphu.

The Ministers agreed to set up a network of SAARC weather stations to monitor weather patterns, especially storms, across the member states, starting with the establishment of 50 automatic weather stations, three GPS Sonde stations, and a Doppler radar in Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh in the first phase and Sri Lanka and Maldives will be covered in a latter phase.

The Ministers agreed to accelerate consultations between the apex environmental management and pollution control agencies of the member states.

The Ministers recommended that the member states may undertake co-operation with respect to adaptation, supported with resources as mutually agreed to address the adverse effect of climate change.

They also stressed and agreed to institutionalize an annual South Asia workshop on climate change actions and the first workshop will be held in India in early 2010.