{"id":57598,"date":"2015-06-05T07:32:00","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T07:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=b6f2868a99ba2a87dc88509e46735874"},"modified":"2015-06-05T07:32:00","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T07:32:00","slug":"speech-solo-photo-exhibition-on-save-the-river-shitalakhya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=57598","title":{"rendered":"Speech: Solo photo exhibition on save the river Shitalakhya"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Honourable guests, Ladies & gentlemen<\/p>\n

I am delighted to be here to mark World Environment Day with the opening of this exhibition by Babu. <\/p>\n

His commitment in highlighting the environment and its impact on Bangladesh is justly praised.<\/p>\n

As last year I can only congratulate him on his work
\nin raising awareness of the challenges we face in Bangladesh.<\/p>\n

Bangladesh is a beautiful country. It is home to some of the world\u2019s unique habitats like the Sundarbans and the Haros in Srimongal River.<\/p>\n

It is abundant in wildlife and home to one of the most majestic creatures on earth \u2013 the Royal Bengal Tiger. <\/p>\n

Bangladesh\u2019s rivers are its lifeblood. <\/p>\n

This exhibition not only highlights the importance of the rivers to the people of Bangladesh but also the impact people have on the rivers.<\/p>\n

It is important that this legacy remains intact for future generations. <\/p>\n

It is not uncommon to pick up a newspaper and read about the destruction of forests or the pollution of land and water. <\/p>\n

Only recently an oil spill in the Sundarbans created global concern. <\/p>\n

As far as we know it was a lucky escape, and not the disaster it could have been. <\/p>\n

But it could be a ticking bomb \u2013 time will tell.<\/p>\n

Two weeks ago I was In Bogra.I saw how people\u2019s lives are affected by the environment. <\/p>\n

How homes and livelihoods are affected by the rise and fall of the river.<\/p>\n

How this in turn is affected by rising sea levels, deforestation and general abuse of the environment.
\nIt was amazing how they coped and adapted. <\/p>\n

Governments have a responsibility to protect the environment and support biodiversity and eco systems.
\nWe also personally have a responsibility. <\/p>\n

According to the most recent global Environmental Performance Index Bangladesh is the 9th most polluted country in the world.<\/p>\n

It ranks 169 out of 178 countries. In 2010, Bangladesh was 139; a dramatic drop of 30 places in four years. That is not a statistic to be proud of.<\/p>\n

What can we do? As I am sure the Her Excellency the French Ambassador wil mention this December the world will gather in Paris to negotiate a new climate change treaty.<\/p>\n

Bangladesh and the United Kingdom are already working closely in the negotiations.<\/p>\n

Our aim is to seal a global deal and halt green gas emissions.<\/p>\n

Failing to seal a deal in Paris is not an option.<\/p>\n

If we do not agree to reduce emissions and put mitigation measures in place, over time the global temperature will increase and ultimately sea levels will rise.<\/p>\n

Many of the rivers you see in these photographs will disappear into the sea.<\/p>\n

The life blood of Bangladesh ebbing away.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be just the people of Bogra but all of us will have to adapt \u2013 daily.<\/p>\n

Getting an international deal in Paris is just the start of that process.<\/p>\n

Domestically, regulation and legislation that, for example, limits pollutants, protects animal species and regenerates forests are just as important. <\/p>\n

Yet if the laws and policies are not implemented effectively, and transgressors are not brought to account, regulation and legislation will have no impact. <\/p>\n

Everybody has a part to play in protecting the environment. <\/p>\n

I hope you take away the messages and images from today.<\/p>\n

And I hope you will influence others to make a small change or take action and hold those damaging the environment to account. <\/p>\n

We cannot stand about and wait for someone else to do it. If we do something today we will leave a rich legacy for tomorrow. <\/p>\n

On that note, many thanks for your invitation again to be present at its launch.<\/p>\n

I hope you all enjoy the exhibition.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Robert Gibson’s speech during inauguration a photo exhibition in Dhaka to mark the World Environment Day 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57598"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=57598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57601,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57598\/revisions\/57601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=57598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=57598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=57598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}