Conference organizing committee (COC) of the Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon-Bangladesh Environment Network (BAPA-BEN) 2022 annual conference held a press conference at the Sagar-Runi Auditorium of Dhaka Reporters’ Unity at Dhaka on Friday December 17, 2021. Sultana Kamal, the President of BAPA and the Chairperson of the COC, announced the theme and the date for the upcoming conference.
Titled “Energy, Climate Change and Sustainable Development” the conference will be held in partnership with environmental organizations, institutions and universities. This year’s event will focus on the opportunities and challenges in the energy sector of Bangladesh in the light of the recent progress in meeting demand. Scheduled for February 11 and 12, 2022, Friday and Saturday, the conference will test a hybrid mode keeping in mind the ongoing pandemic and the participation of overseas activists and experts who can present over the cloud to a physical audience convened on site at the premises of Stamford University, Dhaka, a major BAPA-BEN partner in the 2022 conference.
“In our conferences, we try to bring them together. We hope it is possible to find solutions to all problems through collective efforts,” BAPA President Sultana Kamal told the press conference according to press reports published in a Dhaka newspaper. In the spirit of the hybrid mode proposed for the 2022 conference, Dr. S Nazrul Islam, BEN founder and co-chair of COC, presented a keynote on the conference to the audience at Dhaka from Newyork, USA. Dr. Nazrul thanked policy makers in Bangladesh for scrapping 10 coal-based power projects and urged the government to postpone all projects which are detrimental to the environment.
Dr. Ahmed Badruzzaman, Co-Chair of the technical committee, also attended virtually from California, USA. BAPA Vice-President Professor M Firoz Ahmed, also a Co-Chairperson of the technical committee, attended the event as well.
Sharif Jamil, General Secretary, BAPA and the Member Secretary of COC, conducted the press conference informing the press corps on the details of the conference preparation by the COC and the eleven sub-committees formed to run the conference.
Sharmin Murshid and Khandaker Golam Moazzem, Dr. Mahmudur Rahman, MS Siddiqui, Ibnul Sayeed Rana, Raoman Smita and Dewan Nurtaj Alam, and other members of the conference preparation committee were also present in the media call. BEN leaders joined the call from around the world.
Dr. Nazrul Islam of BEN speaking from New York in the BAPA press conference at Dhaka
