Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The government of Switzerland on Wednesday sought the support of Bangladesh to help set up secretariat of Green Climate Fund (GCF) in Geneva for assisting poor countries fight against global warming.
Swiss ambassador to Bangladesh Dr Urs Herren expressed his country's interest and sought the support while he called on Environment and Forest Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud at his secretariat office in the capital Dhaka.
The fund was launched at the UN climate conference in Durban last December to help channel up to $100 billion a year in aid to poor, vulnerable countries by 2020.
The board of the fund will consider the country submissions at its first meeting in Geneva from May 31 to June 2, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) said in a statement.
The meeting had originally been scheduled for later this month, but was postponed due to delays in constituting the board.
The board will recommend a host country for the fund to the UNFCCC's next conference which is to be held in Doha from November 26 to December 7.
Earlier, Germany, Mexico, Namibia, Poland and South Korea have volunteered to host the Green Climate Fund.
During the meeting, the Swiss ambassador exchanged views over the activities of Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) and its progress of implementation.
In this respect, the envoy said his government would provide more assistances to the BCCRF in the days ahead. "The mater is now under process," Dr Herren informed the minister.
BBN/SSR/AD-02May12-10:30 pm (BST)
