Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will leave Dhaka for Madrid on December 1 to attend the 25th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 25) to be held from December 2-13 under the UN framework convention on climate change.

“Through the Prime Minister’s participation at the conference, it’ll be possible to uphold Bangladesh’s firm commitment in facing climate change at the world forum,” Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen told reporters at a press conference held at state guesthouse Padma on Wednesday.

He said the Prime Minister will hold a bilateral meeting with Spanish President Pedro Sanchez on December 2 and discuss issues of mutual interest including development cooperation, trade and investment and mutual cooperation on various global issues.

She will also hold meeting with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte on the same day and discuss the core bilateral issues including Delta Plan 2100.

He said Bangladesh, under the leadership of Prime Minister Hasina, has been participating actively in global discussion and negotiation on climate change related issues.

Dr Momen said the Prime Minister’s ideas, role and contribution at national, regional and global levels towards sustainable development and facing climate change are well-established globally.

On December 2, the Prime Minister will deliver her speech at Heads of State and Government Summit highlighting climate change and Bangladesh’s position.

She will call upon the global leaders to consider the financial compensation through further strengthening the Warsaw International Mechanism mandate.

She will also emphasise ‘loss and damage’ apart from highlighting initiatives taken by the Bangladesh government.

The Prime Minister will leave Madrid on December 3.

Earlier, Chile, citing the impact of the ongoing anti-government protests, announced that it was withdrawing as host of the upcoming COP25 annual climate summit.

Senior officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present at the press conference.