Bangladesh approves climate change trust

DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh, which is affected by deadly cyclones and floods almost every year, approved on Monday a climate change trust and allocated an initial $43.5 million (30.8 million pounds) fund, a government spokesman said.

The trust would be formed with environment and disaster management experts as soon as possible, spokesman Abul Kalam Azad said. It would seek the causes of climate change and would adopt policies to protect people and property from its adverse effects.

Experts say a one-metre rise in sea levels would displace some 30 million Bangladeshis and deal a catastrophic blow to economic growth and development.

They say climate change will affect Bangladesh's population of more than 140 million over the next 50 years, with sea levels rising in the south and droughts in the north.

River erosion will increase as glaciers melt and the risk of disease will grow with increasing humidity.

Bangladesh blamed climate change for floods and Cyclone Sidr that killed some 4,500 people, destroyed crops and infrastructure worth nearly $2 billion and also displaced some two million people in 2007.

(Reporting by Nizam Ahmed; Editing by Paul Tait)