The Climate Vulnerable Forum has convened in Bangladesh for countries worried about how climate change threatens them to create a unified statement just weeks ahead of UN-sponsored talks on the same subject in Durban, South Africa. <br /><br />"Under the Dhaka agreement, they will commit to reducing their carbon emissions because for them, it's a matter of survival," said Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque, reporting from northeastern Bangladesh.<br /><br />The 18 countries represented at the forum are rallying for climate justice for more than a collective 500 million people. <br /><br />"Yet, their voices don't carry very much political weight because they are from mostly poor countries," our correspondent said.<br /><br />Stefan Priesner, the UN's country director in Dhaka told the Associated Press news agency that the countries were expected to issue a declaration seeking action by industrialised nations and urgent support to limit increasing loss of human life and other damages.<br /><br />But the countries convened at the Climate Vulnerable Forum do not know what kind of demands they can work with to create an effective lobby at the Durban conference.<br /><br />"It's extremely discouraging that even public opinion in major countries -- and I think of North America in particular -- does not seem to understand the importance of this issue," Ross Mountain, the General Director of the organisation that organised the Bangladesh forum, told Al Jazeera.<br /><br />The officials have reportedly discussed ways of getting assistance in technology, capacity and finance to adapt and pursue low-carbon growth. <br /><br />Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh's prime minister, was scheduled to inaugurate the conference in Dhaka on Monday before UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was also planned to speak.
