World Bank to finance USD 250 million to Bangladesh for environment management

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The World Bank has approved $250 million in financing to help Bangladesh strengthen environmental management and promote private sector participation in green investments.

Important facts

• The successful implementation of the Bangladesh Environmental Sustainability and Transformation (BEST) project will help the country tackle pollution, benefiting more than 21 million people living in Greater Dhaka and beyond.

• The project will help in the construction of four vehicle inspection centers using private-public partnership, which will enable inspection of approximately 46,000 vehicles annually.

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

• The project will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1 million metric tons from targeted sources.

• The project will also establish the first network of 22 continuous surface water quality monitoring stations to start monitoring the water quality of Bangladesh rivers and targeted international rivers in real time.

Impact of pollution in Bangladesh

• Rapid economic growth and urbanisation in Bangladesh have increased environmental pollution to a great extent.

• Pollution is not only affecting the health of the country, but it is also eroding Bangladesh's economic competitiveness.

• Pollution-related deaths accounted for a fifth of all deaths in Bangladesh in 2019, costing the country about 12 percent of GDP, according to World Bank estimates.

• The project will strengthen the country's environmental institutions to better control pollution and promote sustainable development.