Bangladesh must target net-zero emissions by 2040: Zaidi Sattar

Bangladesh must set its eyes on a path to net-zero emissions, if not by 2040s, but certainly by 2060s-2070s, in tandem with China and India, Dr Zaidi Sattar, chairman of Policy Research Institute (PRI) has said.

Dr Sattar was speaking at a webinar titled "Incentives for Green Finance and Investment" organised by PRI in collaboration with the World Bank Group on March 16, at the policy dialogue platform of 'Green Growth for Bangladesh”.

The webinar’s objective was to understand the barriers faced by the private sector to access the finance needed to adopt green products, services, projects and to identify policies and institutions that can mitigate them.

Highlighting various climate-resilient strategies taken up by the Prime Minister, Dr Sattar said mentioned the “Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan” which is about to be launched, shifts Bangladesh’s trajectory from one of vulnerability to resilience to prosperity (VRP).

However, to achieve this he mentioned, “Both market-based and non-market strategies may be adopted to achieve these goals.”

Refereeing to climate economist, Sir Nicholas Stern, the PRI chairman said the long-term benefits of eco-friendly economic growth far outweigh the costs and emphasised that “greening of the economy does not have to be growth reducing”.

Bringing the example of South Korea’s strategy of green growth, Dr Sattar said, “It presents an excellent example for other rapidly growing economies like Bangladesh to follow”.

“The lesson clearly is that for achieving sustainable and Green Growth Bangladesh will have to resort to Green Financing,” he added.

Dr Mashiur Rahman, Adviser to the Prime Minister (Economic Affairs), attended the occasion as the chief guest, while Iqbal Abdullah Harun, additional secretary, of the environment ministry was the special guest.

Monika Kumar, environmental specialist, World Bank, delivered the keynote presentation, and Dr Sadiq Ahmed, vice chairman of PRI moderated the session.

The presentation paper of the webinar mentioned that banks and financial institutes have to provide 5 percent of loans for green finance annually, though 1.4 percent disbursed in 2020.

Furthermore, the paper said the potential for climate and green investments is greater than $200 billion in the country, and suggested building a virtuous cycle that can unlock green financing to reach green growth targets for Bangladesh

It mentioned that microenterprises are a critical segment of the economy in Bangladesh informing that CMEs account for around 14 million jobs, or 56 percent of total employment in all enterprises, and contribute to 25 percent of GDP.

However, CMEs' environmental impact is a growing concern due to a substantial share of air and water pollution.

Citing several reports, the presentation paper mentioned that Bangladesh ranked 162nd out of 180 countries as most polluted and economic loss from environmental degradation approximately at $6.5 billion 3.4 percent of GDP annually)

In 2015 air, water pollution caused nearly 28 percent of deaths in Bangladesh.

The panellists at the webinar included Syed Nasim Manzur, managing director, Apex Footwear Ltd, Dr Ahsan H Mansur, executive director, PRI and Chairman of Brac Bank, Naser Ezaz Bijoy, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, and KyungJin Hyung, CEO, Blissvine Ventures, former director of International Business Department of Korea, Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KIBO).