Climate change will make inequality worse

A recently released UN global report on climate change resilience has brought to the fore again the critical state
that countries like Bangladesh are in, as far as environmental and socio- economic impacts are concerned. Climate
change remains one of the major threats to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the report has
reiterated. One of the main thrusts of the SDGs is to reduce inequality in countries by making development
inclusive. But with the increase in natural disasters in countries that are already struggling with poverty, there will
be more people impoverished and greater inequality.

The study, in fact, points out that 95 percent of the poor coastal people in Bangladesh are adversely affected by
climate change which makes poverty reduction an even bigger challenge for the country.

An estimated 400,000 people relocate to Dhaka every year from other parts of the country. 70 percent of slum
dwellers have relocated to Dhaka because of some environmental shock. This vicious cycle of urban poverty and
inequality becomes almost impossible to break.

Thus the need to boost efforts to increase people's resilience to climate change. The UN report states that so far
the international resources given for this have been inadequate.

Governments of the most vulnerable countries must be supported with adequate funds (as promised at the Paris
Agreement) that will be channelled to mitigate climate change impacts and help countries cope with the huge
economic and humanitarian challenges that they will face.

As climate change will affect food security, adaptation policies must be made and implemented including more
efficient growing of crops, developing new variety of crops (e.g. flood resistant paddy) and better water
management techniques. Countries must also create more jobs for people to reduce inequality, which in turn, will
help to mitigate climate change impacts.

Securing our energy future

In a recently held international conference sponsored by Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI),
Mr. Anders Hasselarger, an energy expert from Denmark pointed out in his keynote speech that the share of
renewable energy, mostly solar and wind, in the energy mix in Denmark is 30 percent at present with prospect of
raising it to 50 percent by 2030. Many other European countries are also forward moving towards an all renewable
energy market.
1
What Mr. Hasselarger tried to suggest based on the European energy sector concept, was that Bangladesh should
have a diversified future energy mix with a long term perspective towards renewable energy sources with solar
energy as the primary source. However, biomass, wind, hydro and wave or tidal water systems could also be
relevant.

Denmark and other European countries are not rich in sunlight. Sunlight is abundant in Bangladesh, yet the share
of renewables (including solar, wind, hydro) in the energy mix in Bangladesh is only 3 percent, way behind a sun
poor Denmark. Bangladesh targets to raise the renewable share in the energy mix from 3 percent today to 10
percent by 2020. This implies an increase of renewable based power to 2,400 MW (10 percent of projected
generation capacity of 24,000 MW) from the present 450 MW in just four years. The absence of visible projects
to fulfil the target led most observers to be sceptical about its success.

Solar energy has very small share in the present energy mix in Bangladesh - less than 2 percent. Yet in one count,
solar has a successful story. Bangladesh hosts the fastest growing solar home system in the world with 60,000
SHS units being installed per month. In terms of megawatt this may be tiny (solar produces only 190 MW while
the national total power production capacity is 13,000 MW), but its contribution is enormous in socially uplifting
millions of people, by raising their standard of living, by providing solar electricity to those who would never
have grid electricity.

Lighting a remote off the grid house with small solar power is one thing; providing energy feed for a large mass
of people aspiring for rapid industrialisation is quite different. This is a bigger challenge. Bangladesh at present
is energy starved. Its aspiration for entering the club of middle income country requires an increase in per capita
energy use to boost the per capita GNI, a prerequisite for the above transition.

The core problem Bangladesh faces is a shortage of primary energy to run the rapidly growing industry and power
installations. Being a local gas based mono energy nation for the last four decades, Bangladesh was caught
unprepared with an energy crisis when the trend of depleting gas reserve was confirmed. Although good amount
of coal reserves are known to occur in north Bangladesh, local coal could not be used immediately as an alternative
to gas because of the absence of enough coal mining. This leads Bangladesh to look for energy from outside. In
the medium to long term future, Bangladesh plans to source its energy needs through imported fuels including
coal, liquefied natural gas, LNG and oil. In one estimate, Bangladesh will have 90 percent dependence on
imported energy sources by the year 2030. And this would come at a cost.

The present downward prices of oil, LNG and coal are likely to be short lived and will bounce back to their
original or even higher positions. Therefore, long term dependence on imported fuel for most of its requirement
2
will introduce stress on the economy and will increase prices of industrial products including electricity and
import inflation.

Introduction of LNG in the short term future to compensate for the immediate gas supply deficit is perhaps
justified, but the merit of a long term supply of large volume of costly LNG may be questionable. A rightful
alternative is to launch serious gas exploration. Major exploration for hydrocarbon has not been undertaken in the
country for more than a decade and a little gas reserve could be added to the reserve base. The gas exploration in
Bangladesh may be called anything but serious with less than 10 exploratory wells drilled in the last 10 years. In
spite of the fact that a large ocean area has now been claimed by the government as undisputed following the
verdict of the international court, there has been too little activity by Bangladesh offshore. Yet, on the other side
of offshore boundary, Myanmar has been registering significant gas discoveries since the boundary dispute was
settled in 2012. Interestingly, the offshore Rakhaine Basin of Myanmar, where the late gas discoveries are being
made, is a geologic continuation of the SE offshore Bangladesh. Geologists are therefore pointedly suggesting
that the latter area would be equally gas prospective as the former. Unfortunately the Bangladesh offshore sees
little exploration to prove it right.

Bangladesh stands at a cross road of transition from an under-developed power and energy sector to a more
developed one with projections of attaining a power generating capacity of 39,000 MW by 2030 and 56,000 MW
by 2040. A major challenge for its successful implementation is to secure a cost effective sustainable primary
energy supply.

The government plans major changes in the way Bangladesh runs its energy business. As per the government's
plan and publicity, an energy mix is forthcoming in the mid to long term future with massive imported coal, large
volume of imported LNG, imported oil, significant cross border electricity, nuclear energy, renewables and some
local gas. This is likely to visibly change the energy and power scenario in the country, but the impact of such
large volume of imported energy sources raises one question: how would the economy react to the price shock
that comes with the large scale energy imports?

Bangladesh should prioritise hydrocarbon exploration especially in the offshore, optimise renewable prospects
especially solar and develop local coal to mitigate the energy crisis in the short to mid-term future. For the long
term future (beyond 2030 or even 2040) cross border hydro power from Nepal, Bhutan and India and cross border
gas import linking projects like Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) or Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI),
should these materialise, are among the most feasible options. Into the distant future (2060 and beyond) we tend

3
to believe that renewable energy will gradually take over the world energy market until a point when fossil fuels
will find their place in the history books. The world will be a better place to live by then.

Effects of Climate Change on Nuclear Power Plants: Stop challenging nature

He tiny carbon footprint of nuclear fuel has made nuclear energy an important player in the battle against climate
change. Yet this advantage would be moot if nuclear power plants cannot operate, or became too dangerous to
operate because of global warming.

Nuclear power plants are usually built near low-lying coastlines because they need access to vast quantities of
water to keep their reactors cool. Even when a plant isn't running, its fuel continues to generate heat that needs to
be controlled and cooled to prevent explosions or radioactive leaks. It is this attachment to water that makes
nuclear power plants susceptible to climate change.

Nuclear reactors cannot be operated safely during heat waves because searing summer heat affects the
performance of their cooling systems. In August 2012, the Millstone Nuclear Plant in Waterford, Connecticut,
had to shut down one of its two reactors because water drawn from the Long Island Sound was too warm to cool
it. A month earlier, the Vermont Yankee Plant had to limit output four times because of low river flow and
overwhelming heat.

These incidents tell us in unambiguous terms that we are already seeing the effects of global warming on the
operation of nuclear power plants. Indeed, if global warming continues unabated and if summer temperatures soar
above average, many nuclear power plants could face a dilemma either cut output or violate safety regulations.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the earth warmed roughly 0.85 degrees Celsius
from 1880 to 2012. However, if we consume ever more fossil fuel, greenhouse gas concentrations, and hence
global temperature, will continue to rise at an alarming rate. Based on various climate models, NASA predicts
that the earth's average surface temperature could rise between 2 and 6 degrees Celsius by the end of this century.
These numbers are significant because it takes a vast amount of heat to warm all the oceans, seas and land by that
much.

Because of global warming, the temperature of oceans is rising, thereby causing the water to expand and raise the
average water level each year. Also, with the rise in global temperature, polar icecaps, glaciers and the ice that is
currently on land, such as ice sheets in Greenland, are melting. As these water flow into the oceans, the water
levels rise even more.
4
Since 1880, sea levels have risen by about eight inches, notes Climate Central, an independent Princeton-based
organisation of leading scientists and journalists researching and reporting the facts about our changing climate.
Their projections show there's a high likelihood that sea levels will rise by at least another eight inches by 2050.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's worst-case scenario, meanwhile, predicts that the
oceans will rise nearly seven feet in the next 84 years.

Higher sea levels mean seawater will travel farther inland, creating potential hazards in areas that may have
previously been considered safe for nuclear power plants. A study by American and German scientists reveal that
rising sea levels could put more than 60 US nuclear plants within reach of the so-called 100-year flood by the
end of the century if emission of greenhouse gases is not checked.

Another consequence of global warming is an increase in the intensity of hurricanes. This is not to say that an
accident will happen every time a hurricane passes by a nuclear plant. Unlike earthquakes, hurricanes can be
predicted, allowing time for preparation.

But most nuclear power facilities were built well before scientists understood just how climate change will affect
them in the future. Hence, their design did not take into account the effects of catastrophic floods, high storm
surges and heavy rainfall resulting from a powerful hurricane.

As Hurricane Sandy barreled ashore in 2012, the storm forced the shutdown of several northeast coastal nuclear
power reactors, including the Oyster Creek plant on the Jersey Shore, which took the brunt of Sandy's huge storm
surge. The storm caused problems with the plant's water intake structure affecting the pumps that circulate cooling
water through the plant. Another reactor at Indian Point, north of New York City, shut down because of power
grid disruptions, and a third reactor in southern New Jersey shut down when Sandy knocked out four of its
circulating water pumps.

We can no longer deny that most forms of energy generation, including nuclear power, are vulnerable to the
effects of climate change. With the passage of time, the effects are only going to get worse. A recent report of
Climate Central predicts that in the future, storm-driven floods reaching four feet above the high-tide line will
more likely occur twice as often as today. This is yet another argument against a wholesale shift towards nuclear
power.

If nuclear power is to be used to mitigate the effects of climate change, it must also be capable of adapting to
them. There are, however, serious doubts that it can. The decision to close Diablo Canyon, the last remaining

5
nuclear power plant in California, reaffirms the doubt. Advocates of clean and safe energy herald the closure as
the end of an atomic era and a clear blueprint for fighting climate change.

Finally, a few words about Rooppur are in order. The vulnerability of nuclear power plants to risks posed by
climate change raises serious questions about the wisdom of Bangladeshi policymakers to go ahead with the
nuclear project in a country where inland sources of water are becoming scarce, where coastal nuclear plants are
impractical, where killer cyclones and violent twisters wreak havoc, where catastrophic floods occur at regular
interval and where summer months are unbearably hot. If they do build the nuclear power plant, they will be
challenging not only Mother Nature, they will also be playing Russian roulette with unsafe nuclear reactors built
by Rosatom, a company whose nuclear expansion ambitions both within and outside Russia pose unnecessary
and unacceptable risks to communities and customers alike.

Paris Agreement Coming into Force by COP22! What should Bangladesh do?

With formal deposition to the UN Secretary General of instruments of joining the Paris Agreement (PA) so far
by 60 countries, COP22 of the UNFCCC to be held in Marrakesh between November 7 and 18 is also likely to
be the first Meeting of Parties to the Agreement. The Paris Agreement will come into force on the 30th day after
at least 55 countries covering 55 percent of global green house gas emissions deposit to the UN Secretary General
their instruments of ratification, acceptance or approval. The first threshold has been crossed, but these countries
cover only 48 percent of global emissions. If Australia, Canada and Japan or the EU ratify as they are expected
to do, the PA can take effect by the beginning of COP22. By joining the Paris Agreement a little earlier, China
and the US, the two largest emitters, surely encouraged others to follow their lead. This will make history as no
other global agreement has ever come into force so quickly. The Agreement reflects the US internal politics and
constraints of domestic law, where the president has subtle executive power to accede to certain international
agreements, bypassing Congressional ratification.

The Paris outcome includes two documents: An Agreement consisting of 29 Articles and 139-para decision text.
The PA can be viewed as an excellent patchwork of compromises, kind of an anodyne political narrative, soothing
to all the disparate coalitions representing 195 parties. While the procedural aspects, such as submission of
nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to mitigation and their reviews every five years are legally-binding,
the substantive issues, such as emission reduction targets remain voluntary, though a process of progressively
dynamic differentiation has been structured. Again, the compliance mechanism based on peer review remains
facilitative and non-punitive. In terms of finance, the PA is no better than its parent, the Convention. However,
there are a few silver linings as well: The Paris Agreement is the first law where state obligations to climate

6
finance have been linked to avoidance of 2 degree Celcius threshold of temperature rise, also adaptation linked
with mitigation, explicitly recognising it as a global responsibility.

Such a rapid entry of PA into force reinforces the global desire to build a zero-carbon, climate-resilient future.
Now Parties have to adopt procedures for operationalising the new frameworks, institutions and processes
established under the PA: a transparency framework for mitigation and finance, global stocktaking every five
years, a 12-member compliance mechanism, a clearing house for risk transfer and insurance, a task force to devise
integrated approaches to deal with climate-induced displacement, formation of the Paris Committee on Capacity
Building and adopt a five-year work plan, the Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency, development of
modalities for accounting of public climate finance, a new market mechanism and a global sustainable
development mechanism. So the plate appears full for COP22/CMA1.

But what should be the role of Bangladesh and LDCs in general? Climate finance stands at the core of concerns
for the LDCs, which being nano-emitters, are already losing the most from increasing climate impacts. Though
the PA has added renewed focus on adaptation, the means to realise the global goal and responsibility remain
vague. The record of preferential treatment to the LDCs is not encouraging, with one-fifth of adaptation finance
allocated to them. As the LDCs have neither positive (material) nor negative (emission) power, they must marshal
and hone discursive and argumentative power, reinforced by building alliance with progressive groups and
countries. Bangladesh obviously has the parameters to lead the process.

First, poor and vulnerable countries (PVCs) need to fight for expanding the climate fund (CF) cake, focusing
particularly on mobilising extra-budgetary resources. The polluter-pays-principle (PPP) as a payment against
pollution, either ex-ante or ex-post is the most basic of economic principles, which originated as an economic and
ethical principle since the days of Plato and Kautiliya, then gradually evolving into a legal one in the EU and
elsewhere. Now many governments from North and South apply the PPP domestically. It remains also implicit
in the Paris Agreement's expanded principle of CBDR +RC `(Common but Differentiated Responsibilities and
Respective Capabilities) in light of different national circumstances.' This can only be realised through the global
application of a carbon tax, instead of its truncated practice currently. The funds generated either nationally or
internationally can finance for low-carbon and climate resilient development. Many scientists including Nobel
laureates like Stiglitz and Krugman question the anomaly in which the earthly garbage dump is not free, why
should atmospheric dump be treated freely? Is it because the earthly dump has state boundaries, while the
atmospheric dump straddles borders? This is a gross free-riding by major emitters. Already there is an emerging
consensus on carbon pricing, as evident from the World Bank's Declaration on Carbon Pricing, endorsed by

7
several dozen governments and hundreds of companies, and the recent letter addressed to G20 leaders by investors
controlling over USD 13 trillion of assets urging for introducing carbon pricing. Who then holds us back?

Second, instead of whining, the LDCs need to raise their voices louder for implementation of the long pledged
elimination of subsidies to fossil fuel. This pledge goes back to the G8 meeting in Pittsburg in 2009. The G20 just
ended with no roadmap for elimination of funding the problem rather than investing for its solution.

Third, ambitious mitigation brings in the most adaptation benefits in the form of avoided loss and damage. Under
French leadership, the Agreement rightly linked adaptation and climate finance to the level of mitigation and
temperature rise. So adaptation framing must include prevention of harm and ex-post payment for unavoidable
loss and damage, at least through underwriting premiums for insuring the poor.

Fourth, even under neoliberal thinking, which the PA embodies, funding for adaptation can bring in both direct
and indirect global benefits, such as R&D on improving drought and flood-resistant crops, control of climate-
sensitive infectious diseases, vulnerability of over 100 trading partners, reduced dislocation and migration,
reduced pressure for violent conflicts, avoiding threats to human and global security, etc. Such benefits may not
be enjoyed equally by countries and citizens. So what? The tax-funded national public goods do not benefit
citizens equally, or some may not benefit at all.

Fifth, to follow through these cerebral exercises, the PVCs must build stronger alliance with progressive groups
and countries. France, for example, leads an initiative in the EU to levy a little on financial transactions, to be
distributed as CF. Some other countries already contribute 0.7 percent of their national income as overseas aid.
They will be willing to realise the long-agreed principles of CF - new and additional adequate and predictable
funding. This is exactly what is needed, to plug double counting of overseas aid also as CF.

Finally, basic human rights and no-harm rule are long regarded as sacrosanct in western countries. Obviously,
holding on to centuries-old lens of Westphalia sovereignty and national interests cannot deal with emerging global
public evils like atmospheric pollution; so a new type of what Igne Kaul calls `smart/pooled sovereignty' is
warranted. Joseph Nye recently in a Washington Post piece cogently argues that while the US led in production
of global public goods since World War II, now cooperation of other powerful states is needed, because power
has become a positive-sum game for achieving global goals. LDCs must be louder in their voices to reach out to
the major emitters, old and new, to solve the most diabolically complex global problem. We hope Bangladesh
can play a leading role in showing the world how to adapt in the best possible way.

8
 Internet: a tool for growth of small businesses

The number of internet users is increasing phenomenally in recent years. But many small businesses in
Bangladesh do not notice this phenomenon or consider taking advantage of this trend.

Little do they know that an online presence can help take their business to the next level.

A rise in the number of internet users in Bangladesh

According to data from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, the number of internet users
almost doubled in the last two years; it shot up from 30.48 million in 2013 to 58.31 million in February
2016. Business houses with a web presence have the ability to reach out to these people by adopting a different
marketing strategy.

Ensuring an online presence

Nowadays, when someone wants to buy a product, they just Google it. They can find out where it is available --
different brands, the price, and quality to get the best deal. When a business entity is not present online, its
products -- no matter how great in quality -- go unnoticed by online users.

Establishing business credibility

By putting up its information such as address, mission and objectives, and product details, a business can gradually
establish credibility. Without a website, customers get an impression that the business might be very small and
does not deserve attention.

Expanding global footprint

A website is the most effective tool to get more customers and create a market for the products worldwide. Internet
Live Stats assesses that the number of internet users in 2016 is 3.33 billion -- which is 40 percent of the world's
population.

Company's size really does not matter

A business website not only earns credibility, but also creates a larger-than-life impression. This is good news. A
small business can even beat a large multinational company in the Google Ranking, if it runs a good website with
the latest technologies that draw larger crowds with high quality content.

9
Access from anywhere, anytime

Unlike a real-world office, a business website is up and accessible to customers 24 hours a day. Customers will
always get to know about the products and services on offer, freeing them from the compulsion of office hours.
Businesses can even have a 24-hour product sales mechanism online.

Enriching customer experience, satisfaction

Customer satisfaction is vital for any business house. Through a website, it can always collect data on customer
insight, feedback, reviews, and problems, and address the issues accordingly.

Getting close to customers

Finally, I think there are two reasons why most small business houses do not have their websites. Firstly, many
of them do not even feel the necessity of such web sites and secondly, they think such initiative is very costly. I
have already mentioned why website is so necessary. Let me also point out that actually building a small business
website is not at all costly. Such a webpage, which will have your vision, mission, address, contacts and products
or services list would have 10 to 15 sub-pages. It's not at all a costly complicated affair to launch such a page.

Then again, you would off course want your web page visitors to become your customers. How do you do that?
In my next topic, I will focus on how to turn your web page visitor into your customer and that customer to a
happy customer.

Ensuring transparency in farm loan disbursement

Neither policymakers nor lending institutions concerned are found serious to remove the long-lingering flaws in
the farm credit distribution programme, notwithstanding its importance in the economy. Their failure has resulted
in the accumulation of a substantial volume of overdue loans and misdirected lending of farm credit. However,
such developments are very much interlinked. The specialised banks involved in farm credit operations are
burdened with a substantial volume of non-performing loans (NPLs). The experience of the public sector
scheduled banks is not better either. The state of affairs with farm credit, thus, has been enough to keep the private
banks away from farm credit operations.

10
But the fact remains that agriculture sector does deserve more support from the formal lending institutions.
Despite its declining contribution to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), agriculture continues to be the
mainstay of the economy in terms of food security and employment generation. The Bangladesh Bank (BB),
however, is not oblivious of the vital role that farmers play and that is why it has always been trying to support
the latter financially. It was due to the BB's continuous monitoring that the targeted farm loan disbursement by
different banks grew by nearly 23 per cent in the first five months of the current fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 over
that of the same period of the previous one. The increased disbursement was made to meet growing demand for
farm loan during the ongoing Boro and Robi cropping season.

None would contest the fact that farmers in Bangladesh are ingenious as well as enterprising. The commendable
rise in food production over the years, despite the adversities of nature, does amply bear this out. Before
independence, the country could not produce food grains even for its 70 million people. Now its resilient farmers
are feeding a population of 160 million even under a situation of a continuous decline in arable land. They have
truly achieved a miracle. Yet they are very often forced to sell their produce, particularly rice and jute, below the
cost of production. Flawed policy decisions, irregularities in public rice procurement programmes and high cost
of farm inputs are largely responsible for the difficulties that the farmers very often encounter.

The current situation demands further expansion of bank network in rural areas. About two-thirds of unions do
not have bank branches because the operations of traditional banks are not economically viable there. Absence of
bank means absence of flow of money to rural areas. The government and the central bank have to be innovative
for making finances available to rural areas and their proper and productive use. The basic problem with farm
loans is that in many cases the loans do not reach the right people because of irregularities of all sorts. The wrong
recipients, for obvious reasons, later turn out to be delinquent borrowers.

So, it is important to ensure transparency and accountability on the part of the lending institutions that are involved
in farm credit disbursement operations. The central bank might think about making it mandatory for all
commercial banks to put their farm loan disbursement programmes under some sort of cost-effective public
scanner for citizens' scrutiny. In this context, the rural bank branches will need to display in public the lists of
farm loan recipients to allow the citizens in every area to examine whether real farmers are really getting access
to loans. It is 'citizen's audit' under which everybody will be able to check if loans are going to the real farmers.
Such an auditing practice will help reduce corruption in farm loan disbursement process.
11
 Bangladesh leads on migration discussions
People do not make the decision to leave their homes lightly, but sometimes circumstances compel them to move.
Many Bangladeshis leave home to pursue opportunities in the wider world. And tensions, conflict, and
discrimination inside neighbouring Burma (Myanmar) have, over the years, led people from that country to flee
across its borders into Bangladesh, Thailand, China, and beyond.

These phenomena - migration and flight - are not limited to this region. For many years Bangladesh has taken a
leading role in multilateral discussions on refugee and migration issues. Such discussions support international
efforts to protect the most vulnerable people who have been displaced from their homes.

Bangladeshs leadership again was demonstrated this week when its government hosted the Global Forum for
Migration and Development (GFMD).

Around the world, record numbers of people are on the move. The issue of migrants and refugees has exploded
onto the international agenda. It was a dominant theme at last Septembers high level meeting of the UN General
Assembly in New York and the concurrent Leaders Summit on Refugees.

This week, more than 700 diplomats, officials and representatives from civil society converged on Dhaka for the
Global Forum - two hundred more than originally expected. Participants came together to better understand the
root causes of migration, share best practices, forge partnerships, and discuss ways to solve thorny problems.

We talked about practical steps countries can take to prevent the loss of life, and to crack down on the ruthless
smugglers who prey upon desperate people.

In Dhaka, as in previous Forum gatherings, we discussed how to create and promote legal avenues for migration.
Well-managed migration can, after all, benefit both sending and receiving countries. Families rely on remittances
sent home by overseas workers and these remittances provide more resources to many of the worlds poorest
nations than development assistance does. Employers abroad need the energy and skill that migrants offer.

And in countries with labour shortages or aging populations, migrants can propel economies forward. Studies
show that migrants usually contribute more to society - including by paying taxes - than they receive in benefits.

Most participants shared a sense that more must be done to aid and protect those who are forced to flee and that
we all have a legal and moral obligation to do this. Just as Bangladesh and the international community have
worked together to address the plight of the Rohingya, the world must make protection of refugees a priority and
devote the necessary resources to this challenge - including support to nations that host refugees.

12
Vulnerable and impoverished migrants also need ways to travel safely and legally. Victims of human trafficking,
migrant smuggling, and people scattered by natural and man-made disasters want a chance to live in dignity, to
heal and to rebuild their lives.

Clearly nations have a sovereign right to control their borders. Dangerous and unmanaged migration risks lives,
enriches smugglers, traffickers and criminal networks, and undermines public confidence in government.

Thoughtful nations, however, have found ways to develop border control and migration policies that protect
citizens, asylum-seekers, and migrants while maximizing the benefits of legal migration.

This years GFMD also advanced discussions related to the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, a
document produced at the United Nations in September that calls for the development of two separate compacts
on refugees and safe, orderly and regular migration. The compacts hold promise for improving the way the world
responds to the global refugee and migration crisis - if nations can overcome their reluctance to embrace these
issues constructively.

This is why I believe that the GFMD-and other migration dialogues around the world--are essential. They bring
countries together to address equally the challenges and benefits of migration.

Governments around the world have recognised that the time for action is now. Through pragmatic leadership -
of the type Bangladesh has demonstrated by organising and hosting the Global Forum on Migration and
Development -both migrants and the societies that host them will benefit.

13