The countries have pledged to improve monitoring and exchange of information on impacts such as rising sea levels

Flickr/Sumaiya Ahmed

South Asian nations have adopted a three-year environmental action plan to reduce the impact of climate change in the region.

Environmental ministers from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka — adopted the declaration in Dhaka, Bangladesh, last week (3 July) following a three-day summit.

The action plan covers 2009–2011, with countries pledging to improve monitoring and exchange of information on disaster preparedness and extreme events, meteorological data, information on climate change impacts such as increased sea levels, glacial melting and biodiversity, and capacity for clean development mechanism projects.

The ministers called for more technology to fight climate change and better technology and knowledge transfer between SAARC member states.

They also called for a South Asia fund on climate change, with further discussions scheduled for the next SAARC summit in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in July. 

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