The twin challenges of maintaining the competitiveness of Bangladeshi RMG and enhancing its environmental sustainability are well articulated in the government’s key strategy documents. The 7th Five Year Plan (FYP) 2016-2020 is the government’s chief development strategy document.
The document notes the pollution footprint of the RMG and textiles industries, the state of noncompliance by most factories, and also recognizes environmental governance challenges. According to the 7th FYP 2016-2020 (2016:425): “Policies to combat pollution are largely ineffective because of loose regulatory practices. Governance elements such as information access, transparency, accountable decision-making, management tools all need improvement. The government fully recognizes that environmental policies need to instill market-based incentives to firms to encourage good environmental performance.
Access to information and knowledge about risks could greatly reduce the harmful impacts of environmental factors. The “Bangladesh Delta Plan (BDP) 2100” currently being prepared by the Bangladesh Planning Commission will provide a complete strategy for the development of the Delta project until 2100.
It presents vision with priorities, translated to actions that can be taken now, integrating current policies. According to the draft (2017:263), “Sub-strategy FW 2.1: Pollution control and treatment - this sub-strategy involves both protection of environmentally valuable and sensitive areas and the prevention of pollution by enhanced treatment.
The DoE authorities, as well as the urban drinking water and sanitation authorities, are key actors in implementing these interventions, many of which have already been elaborated in master plans and investment projects. The main aim of the BDP 2100 is to ensure synergy between these highly necessary investments and other interventions. Developing a sound knowledge base is a key component of this sub-strategy. The BDP 2100 mentions setting up groundwater protection zones, limiting groundwater use, pollution monitoring, pollution permitting, pollution control, investment in industrial (and municipal) ETPs, and the introduction of cleaner production technologies.
While eco-friendly development remains a desideratum, the $28 billion question for Bangladesh’s RMG sector is how do we go from the success stories of the green super achievers like Tarasima, Remi Holdings, Plummy Fashions, AR Jeans, etc, to transformational change that will ensure Bangladesh’s place in a green supply chain?
Sustainability results from these RMG companies are critical at this point of a breakthrough because they reify the eco-efficiency business case that fuels peer demonstration. Success stories from RMG companies who have successfully started their resource saving sustainability initiatives (in more than 400 factories, according to data from USGBC and IFC’s PACT) present compelling case studies of what is possible through constructive dialogue, collective effort, and technical advisory. The business case will act as a catalyst towards greening in many factories until being high achieving becomes the norm.
We have seen the kind of barriers and drivers that impact greening on the factory floor.
However, for greening to be attractive to the medium and low performers in the industry (the segments where perhaps the buyer pressure has not been the same, or their production process does not call for heavy investments into pollution management) - a multi-faceted approach is needed combining policy reviews more in line with encouraging cleaner production along the production process, and assistance to regulators in fulfilling their mandate of closer and more transparent monitoring of polluters, and economic incentives custom made for the smaller RMG companies who wish to benefit from the greening dividend.
The high achievers’ greening business case reveals an important lesson that should not be ignored while considering scaling up greening among the medium and low performers -- company management will only prioritize greening investment as long as it is not in conflict with the company’s overall goals of remaining profitable.
It is not usually the goal of RMG companies to invest in green technologies, and their yearly turnover and profit margins remain a key factor.
The papers in this series are a part of a paper for the DFID supported Economic Dialogue on Green Growth (EDGG) project, implemented by Adam Smith International.
Shahpar Selim has a doctorate on environmental policy, compliance and regulations from the London School of Economics. She also specializes in climate change and disaster management. She is currently working as the Programme Coordinator of the National Resilience Programme, at the UNDP.
