Green Initiatives: Eco-friendly plan mandatory for all dev activities
The target of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions by 2030 has been set at 6.73% with the country’s own financing and technological capabilities
The government has made it mandatory for pragmatic and inclusive ecologically sound plans to be followed in a carrying out of all development activities, considering the immense importance of environmental protection.
As part of this initiative, the government has taken a decision to ditch the implementation of 10 coal-fired power plants, worth $12 billion, with a generation capacity of 8,600 MW.
Of these plants, four have been cancelled, and the remaining six will be renewable or gas-based, on the basis of a feasibility study to ensure the availability of 40% of our energy resources from renewable sources by 2041, said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in his budget speech on Thursday.
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As part of the implementation of the global carbon emissions reduction target, the country's updated "Nationally Determined Contribution" was finalised in August 2021.
"By 2030, the target of reducing carbon-dioxide emissions has been set at 6.73% with the country's own financing and technological capabilities. Another 15.12% of this emission reduction has been provisioned subject to the availability of international funding and technical assistance," the minister said.
On the other hand, to determine the long-term integrated adaptation strategy together with an action plan to tackle the country's climate change, the government has initiated the formulation of the "National Adaptation Plan", which is in its final stage.
Besides, the updating of the "Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan" formulated in 2009 is also in progress.
To move from climate risk to sustainable climate prosperity, the government will implement the "Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan", Kamal said, claiming that it is a strategic investment framework for climate financing.
"Under this, $80 billion is being planned for investment by 2030 to achieve climate resilience. The investment will be funded by both domestic and external sources," said the finance minister.
He also said that the Finance Division, with support from a project titled, "Inclusive Budgeting and Financing for Climate Resilience", had developed a "Climate Public Finance Tracking Methodology," and embedded it in the Integrated Budget and Accounting System - iBAS++.
Using this methodology, the budget allocation and actual expenditure of 25 climate-relevant ministries/divisions are being tracked.
