Bangladesh and the World Bank signed two financing agreements totaling $900 million on Sunday to help the country achieve environment sustainability, and climate resiliency, including in urban infrastructure and inclusive growth.
“Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, impacting the people, whether they live in rural areas or cities,” said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan.
He said, “These two financings will achieve green growth and build climate resiliency in Bangladesh across the sectors including urban infrastructure. The World Bank remains a committed partner to help Bangladesh achieve its development aspirations while improving resiliency to climate change.”
The agreements for the Second Bangladesh Green and Climate Resilient Development Credit and the Resilient Urban And Territorial Development Project were signed by Shahriar Siddiky, secretary, and Farid Aziz, additional secretary, Economic Relations Division and Abdoulaye Seck on behalf of Bangladesh and the World Bank, respectively.
The $500 million Second Bangladesh Green and Climate Resilient Development Credit will support policies to help the country’s transition to green and climate-resilient development. The financing supports policy reforms to improve public planning financing and implementation for green and climate-resilient interventions at local and national levels and promote clean and resource-efficient production and services in key sectors, according to a media release.
The financing supports policies to reduce air pollution, improve environmental enforcement, expand access to carbon markets, enhance sustainable water and sanitation services, improve the efficiency of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, and advance a climate-resilient and sustainable environment. It also supports sustainable public procurement incorporating environmental and social considerations. It will further help improve the energy efficiency of buildings and appliances and incentivize the construction sector to become greener.
The $400 million Resilient Urban And Territorial Development Project will help improve climate-resilient and gender-responsive urban infrastructure and urban management capacities in seven city clusters along the economic corridor covering over 950 kilometres of the highway from Cox’s Bazar to Panchagarh. The project will benefit about 17 million people living in these selected urban areas.
The project prioritizes coordinated investment in climate-resilient infrastructure and planning across these secondary cities. It will provide investments to support the development of strategically important corridors and city clusters and create jobs. The infrastructure designs will incorporate the needs of female users and green building features including rainwater harvesting. Selected municipalities and city corporations will receive subgrants for investing in climate-resilient and gender-responsive infrastructure. It will construct over 300 kilometres of footpaths, 10 regional bus terminals, 10 kitchen markets, 10 supermarkets, 10 parks, 10 community centres, 20 public toilets, 880 kilometres of urban roads, and, 2000 meters of bridges/culverts among others.
bd-pratidin/GR
