Photo: Collected
Metropolis Desk-
The World Bank approved a loan of 250 million dollars for Bangladesh. This information was given in a press release sent from the head office of the organization on Friday (December 2).
According to the organization, this funding will help Bangladesh develop environmental management. The World Bank approved the financing to strengthen Bangladesh’s environmental management and encourage private sector participation in green investment.
This loan will be used for the Bangladesh Environmental Sustainability and Transformation project. The project will also help improve environmental regulations and enforcement to prevent pollution and improve environmental standards. The project aims to create new financing channels to promote green investment. It will also establish a Green Credit Guarantee Scheme to encourage the financial sector to support green investments to reduce air pollution. Successful implementation of the project will help tackle pollution. More than 21 million people living in Greater Dhaka and beyond will benefit from this project.
Bangladesh and Bhutan Acting Country Director Dandan Chen said Bangladesh is achieving rapid economic growth. Besides, urbanization is causing pollution. Pollution is not only affecting our health but also eroding the country’s economic competitiveness. The World Bank has been a long-standing partner of Bangladesh in tackling environmental challenges. The project will strengthen the country’s ecological agencies for pollution control and sustainable development.
The implementation of the project will facilitate the construction of four vehicle inspection centers through a public-private partnership to inspect about 46,000 vehicles annually. An e-waste management will be set up to process three and a half metric tonnes of e-waste annually. The project aims to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by one million tonnes.
Jiang Ru, World Bank’s senior environmental expert and leader of the task team, said, “We regularly see reports of high levels of air pollution in Dhaka in newspapers and magazines.” World Bank estimates show that air pollution and lead exposure are responsible for more than one-fifth of deaths in Bangladesh in 2019, costing about 12 percent of the country’s GDP. Environmental regulations and strict environmental enforcement will encourage the private sector to invest in pollution control and green growth. It will help the country achieve its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
This loan will be given to Bangladesh from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank, which is to be paid in 30 years with a grace period of five years. Service charges are to be paid at 0.75 percent of conventional loans.
