Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen and Scottish Minister for Environment and Land Reform Mairi McAllan have agreed to strengthen cooperation in the renewable energy sector. They discussed the issue during a bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of COP27 on Thursday. The two ministers discussed the possibilities of unlocking opportunities for engaging in offshore wind power and hydrogen to further broaden Bangladesh’s energy mix. Minister McAllan underscored Scotland’s support for ‘loss and damage’. Minister Momen stressed the critical importance of the issue for climate vulnerable countries. Read more: Bangladesh is a lucrative country for foreign investment: Foreign Minister He urged that the concerns of those displaced due to climate change are also addressed as part of that. Momen also thanked the Scottish government for hosting COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021. Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Momen met Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland. They exchanged views on COP27 issues that are of particular interest to the Commonwealth member states. They particularly discussed ways for the effective implementation of the Commonwealth Blue Charter for a fair, inclusive and sustainable approach to ocean protection and economic development. Citing Bangladesh as a powerful champion of climate change causes, Secretary General Scotland requested Bangladesh to consider leading one of the Action Groups under the Commonwealth Blue Charter. Read more: ‘Reports misquoting me tried to create adverse situation between Bangladesh, US’ Foreign Minister Momen endorsed the Commonwealth Secretary General’s suggestion to create a high-level core group for raising awareness on mental health issues. He also requested to provide increased number of Commonwealth scholarships for Bangladeshi students. The Secretary General informed the Minister about a new opportunity being created for training young people from the Commonwealth member states in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Bangladesh Ambassador to Egypt Md. Monirul Islam was also present at the meetings.

State Minister for Power Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said that promotion of renewable energy could play a vital role in ensuring an equitable development.  “This is an important time to reaffirm our commitment to clean and renewable energy as well as energy efficiency and conservation”, he said while addressing virtually at the closing workshop of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Programme (REEEP ll) at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre on Monday.    In the coming years, he said, the focus will fall more and more on ensuring holistic, human-centric development which strikes a balance between technological progress, economic development and environmental sustainability. READ: Strengthen monitoring of energy sector project implementation: Nasrul Hamid In collaboration with Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH implemented the REEEP II on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Fatima Yasmin, Secretary, Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, Md. Habibur Rahman, Secretary, Power Division, and Achim Tröster, German Ambassador to Bangladesh also joined the event.  Sreda chairman Mohammad Alauddin presided over the function. READ: Power sector needs $65 billion investment to meet growing demand: Nasrul Hamid REEEP II aimed to promote cooperation among SREDA and other stakeholders to achieve national targets on renewable energy and energy efficiency, to support implementation of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Master plan up to 2030 through awareness development.