The environment and forests minister, Hasan Mahmud, has urged the civil society to come forward to help the government cope with the adverse impacts of climate change. He made the call at a seminar titled ‘Consultation : Impact of Climate Change on WatSan, Health & Hygiene and its Inclusion in Climate Negotiation Process’ jointly organised by NGO Forum and Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies at the National Press Club in the city on Thursday. The seminar was organised to revisit the present status of water, sanitation and hygiene as one of the most affected sectors of the country being highlighted in the ongoing global climate negotiations. Chaired by BCAS executive director Atiq Rahman, the seminar was addressed, among others, by chief engineer of the Department of Public Health Engineering Nuruzzaman, country director of Terre Des Homes- Netherlands Mahmudul Kabir, professor of BUET M Feroze Ahmed, and team leader of Groundwater Management and Feasibility Study of 148 municipalities Emaduddin Ahmad. Hasan said Bangladesh was one of the most vulnerable countries due to climate change and the government was working sincerely to protect the environment and biodiversity. ‘Flood, drought, cyclone and salinity hamper our national economic growth. So, the government has formulated the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategic and Action 2009, emphasising building national resilience.’ Hasan said about 70 per cent diseases in Bangladesh were waterborne ones. ‘An incident of flood further increases the rate. Climate change impacts are increasing the vulnerabilities to the water sector.’ He said the country had started facing the symptoms of desertification as land fertility had already decreased by 20 per cent. Aila and Sidr are the results of change in the world climatic order. ‘The developed countries are emitting 15-20 tonnes of carbon while Bangladesh just 0.3 tonnes in comparison, but we’ve have been the victim to global warming,’ he said. Atiq Rahman said climate change had impeded the country’s development. ‘It has affected us in four ways — too little water, too much water, wrong type of water and wrong timing of water.’ He said the knowledge gap among the farmers, fishermen was increasing as they were not able to gather knowledge from their forefathers keeping pace with the rapid climate change. ‘So, adaptation knowledge of these people is crucial for Bangladesh.’ Atiq emphasised strengthening the local government to ensure the proper use of climate-related funds and projects. Nuruzzaman said the entire water and sanitation sector was facing additional pressure and threats as WatSan technologies were getting either damaged or inoperative due to climate change. He said the DPHE has been working to improve water and sanitation coverage in the country for the last 75 years and had seen impressive progress that was now gravely challenged by the frequent climate change induced disasters.