When it comes to the continued expansion of our economy, we firmly believe that it can do so in a sustainable manner that takes the environmental integrity into cognizance. In fact, as a country on the front-lines of climate change, it is our imperative to ensure that every bit of our national growth is as green as possible.
According to the World Bank Group, green growth is efficient in its use of natural resources, clean in that it minimises pollution and environmental impact, and resilient in that it accounts for natural hazards. It focuses on the synergies and trade-offs between the environmental and economic pillars of accelerating economic growth.
To that end, the Danish Embassy recently hosted a five-day exhibition titled “Going Green” in the capital to highlight green solutions that can support sustainable and inclusive economic growth for Bangladesh.
As a country, Denmark has grown its economy for the past four decades while simultaneously reducing CO2 emissions and resource consumption, hopefully this exhibition paves the way to further sharing of knowledge on how Bangladesh can achieve similar growth by the time we reach our aspiration of becoming a middle-income economy.
However, joining initiatives hardly concludes the long-term goal of going green.
By taxing the consumption of fossil fuels, and incentivizing green initiatives which reward businesses for eco-friendly practices, it encourages players in the private sector to put the health of the environment first. But for that to pan out, an environment that enables such growth practices will have to be ensured first.
Economic growth and environmental sustainability do not need to be at odds.
