By Athar Parvaiz

COPENHAGEN (IPS/TerraViva) – Unless the world comes to its aid, Bangladesh says the vulnerability of its agriculture sector to climate change could spell severe consequences for its millions of people, who stand to lose their main source of livelihood.

“As a poverty-stricken and densely populated country, we cannot cope with these challenges unless we have a proper financial and technological support from the developed world,” said Sabir Hassan Chowdhary, one of the delegates from Bangladesh to the Copenhagen climate talks, in an interview with TerraViva. Continue Reading

Hurricane Ike smashing into Baracoa, Cuba. Credit: AIN/IPS

By Stephen Leahy*

COPENHAGEN (IPS/TerraViva) – Honduras has been hit harder by extreme weather events than almost any other country over the last 18 years, says a study of weather-related losses, released here as the climate summit continues this week.

Around the world, storms, floods and heat waves have resulted in 1.7 trillion dollars in losses and 600,000 deaths, the Global Climate Risk Index 2010 reported. Continue Reading

Please act and stop talking. Credit: Nasseem Ackbarally/IPS

By Saleemul Huq*

COPENHAGEN (IPS/TerraViva) I have been working on climate change for many years, first as a researcher in my native Bangladesh and later as head of the climate change group at the International Institute for Environment and Development, and as a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Continue Reading