The World Bank (WB) on Thursday approved $250 million in financing to help Bangladesh strengthen its environmental management and promote private sector participation in green investment, reports UNB. 

According to the global money lender, the Bangladesh Environmental Sustainability and Transformation (BEST) Project will support the Department of Environment to strengthen its technical and administrative capacity.

BEST will pilot new financing mechanisms to promote green investments in targeted sectors. It will also establish a Green Credit Guarantee Scheme to incentivise the financial sector to support green investments to reduce air pollution.

The World Bank said the successful implementation of the project will help Bangladesh tackle key pollution issues, benefitting over 21 million people living in Greater Dhaka and beyond.

Dandan Chen, World Bank acting country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, said, "Bangladesh's rapid economic growth and urbanisation have come at a high environmental cost in terms of pollution. Not only that the pollution is impacting our health, but also it is eroding the country’s economic competitiveness."

Bangladesh Environmental Sustainability and Transformation will strengthen the country's environmental institutions to better control pollution and promote sustainable development, he added.

The project will help construct four vehicle inspection centres using a private-public partnership modality to inspect about 46,000 vehicles annually.

An e-waste management facility will be set up to process 3,500 metric tons of e-waste annually.

It will also help reduce over 1 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from targeted sources, according to the World Bank.

Bd-pratidin English/Golam Rosul