In sideline with the recently concluded United Nations Climate Change Conference, (COP 25) held on 2-13 December 2019, Madrid, Spain, Director General of SACEP Dr. Abas Basir had bilateral discussions with Director General ,National Environment Protection Agency (NEPA), Afghanistan, H.E. Mr.Shah Zaman Maiwandi, and Deputy Director General Mr. Idris Maliyar; Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of Bangladesh H.E. Mr. MD. Shahab Uddin and his team; Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of Bhutan H.E. Mr. Yeshey Penjor and his team.
During these bilateral meetings, Dr.Basir explained about the activities SACEP had been conducting during the year 2019 and the activities planned for the next year with various collaborative partners including World Bank, ADB, IMO, UNFCCC Secretariat and IGES.
NDC implementation was one of the areas that discussed during these meetings. Dr. Basir informed ministers that a gap and need analyses conducted by SACEP in collaboration with ADB shows that South Asian countries making significant progress in implementing their ambitious NDCs, however still many gaps remain and needs to be addressed. Based on the gap and need analyses, SACEP had a follow up discussion with ADB and UNFCCC Secretariat and is hopeful to get more technical and financial supports in helping member countries to revise and implement their NDCs. Dr. Basir added. He also updated ministers on the recent World Bank supported project ‘Plastic free Rivers and Seas for South Asia’ and emphasized that successful implementation of this project requires full supports from SACEP member countries.
Ministers congratulated SACEP for its recent achievements and expressed their full support for the SACEP proposed projects and activities.
