BD to achieve SDGs before 2030: Muhith

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said Bangladesh will be able to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) before 2030.
He made the remarks while inaugurating a two-day media training workshop at CIRDAP auditorium in the capital on Sunday.
Economist Dr Qazi Kholoquzzaman Ahmad and Director General of Inter Press Service (IPS) Farhana Haque Rahman, and IPS South Asian affairs representative Shahiduzzaman were also present at the inaugural programme.
The media training workshop was jointly organised by Inter Press Service and UN Foundation.
The United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) started in 2000 with eight goals and ended in 2015. The deadline for SDG has been set from 2016 to 2030 with 17 new goals.
Finance minister believes most of these goals can be achieved well before the stipulated time of 2030.
He said the reduction of poverty should be a sustainable matter rather than susceptible. But the extreme effects of climate change are making the situation difficult, especially in the coastal areas.
"The government is working tirelessly to achieve the SDGs . . . poverty alleviation should no more be a continuous process, rather it must be sustainable," he added.
Muhith said the coastal people are facing many problems including flood, river bank erosions, cyclone and drought due to natural phenomenon.
"Bangladeshis bearing the burden of excessive carbon emissions caused by the   industrialised nations, who are mainly responsible for global warming, a great challenge for the mother Earth," he added.
Despite having a little contribution to global carbon emission, Bangladesh is facing many problems due to adverse impact of global climate change, Muhith said, adding: "We do not get compensation from the industrialised nations and we are taking programmes from our own funds to tackle the negative impact of climate change."