Bangladesh has geared up its environment conservation steps to save the world’s poorest countries from the adverse effects of global warming. Now it is turning towards green economy policies to save the degrading ecosystem.

What is green economy?

It can be explained as the economic development based on sustainable development which generates growth and improvement in human’s lives while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. Green economy in Bangladesh promotes three bottom lines – sustaining economic, environment and social well-being.

Gramin Shakti

Gramin Shakti is a nonprofit organization pioneering solar systems for homes in Bangladesh. It is linked with micro credit lender Gramin Bank. Gramin Shakti provided small loan scheme to the villagers to buy solar home system. The Solar Home Systems (SHS) cost around $135 and villagers can pay back amount in installments. Gramin Shakti aims to reach the targets of million SHS by 2015. Thus Gramin Shakti is in the forefront of pushing green economy in Bangladesh.

Solar Home System boosting Green Economy

Green Economy in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh about 70% of the population does not have access to electricity. Bringing electricity to the rural poor is one of the most important contributions that a green economy can make to developing economies thus making way for Ecotourism in Bangladesh.

Recently World Bank has approved US $172 million credit to Bangladesh to support the ongoing installation of additional 630,000 Solar Home Systems in the rural area where grid electricity is not economically feasible or hard to reach.

Earlier in 2009 December, World bank has provided financing of $130 million through which more than 300,000 solar home based systems have been installed. The solar component is manufactured by Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Project (RERED) and it is implemented by the Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL), a government- owned financial institution

“It’s the fastest expansion of solar energy anywhere in the world,” said Haq, who heads the state-run IDCOL, which provides financing for clean energy projects.

“We crossed the one million thresholds in more than 18 months ahead of schedule and we have set a new target to cross 2.5 million by 2014,” he said.

Some 60 percent of Bangladesh’s 150 million people have no access to mains electricity, with many relying on costly kerosene lamps for lighting, something which is sure to change with the application of green economy in Bangladesh.

Solar Home Systems has changed the face of remote and rural areas of Bangladesh by providing cheap, reliable electricity. It has helped in replacing kerosene – fired lanterns and reduced deforestation to a large extend. Another offshoot of the green economy is the local jobs and income opportunities which have been created. Going forward green economy ideas are going to be the way forward for Bangladesh ecology and economy.

Bangladesh is prone to retaining Islam as state religion in the midst of increasing pressure on religious minorities and groups of civil society to restore the secular character of the 1972-Constitution.

However, the Awami League-led coalition, which plans to make major changes to the Constitution should provide equal status with other religions. “You know the ‘(parliamentary), the Special Committee has proposed to declare the provision of equal status with other religions and equal rights of the followers of all religions, Islam the state religion,” Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said on Monday

“Parliament will ultimately make the final decision on the proposed amendment,” he added, without giving details. According to media reports, the Cabinet yesterday agreed to the proposal of the Special Committee to maintain Islam as State religion “because of the sensitivity of the issue.”

The state of Bangladesh is going through the illegal arms problem of ULFA which is group called as United Liberation Front of Assam.  The majority of the ULFA militant leaders have been deported to India but the matter of fact is that they have left their arms in Bangladesh.  Their arms are actually in a large number. ULFA gathered a large number of illegal arms in Bangladesh.

About 10 Lorries of illegal arms were caught by Bangladesh police in Chittagong port of Bangladesh.  That illegal arms case is an ongoing trial in the court of Bangladesh. Intelligence branches of Bangladesh are investigating it.  They have found evidence already that, Paresh Barua, the chief of army of ULFA was present in the Chittangong port to unload the arms. A group of leaders of the then Islamic militant government of Bangladesh also helped to bring and unload the arms.  Bangladesh has already arrested a group of Islamic militant leaders on this case.

The unloading of ten lorries of illegal arms in Chittangong port has proven that, ULFA brought large number of arms in Bangladesh.  On the other hand, they have deported and been caught without arms.  Therefore, it can be said that, they had another safe place in Bangladesh where they hide their arms.

Some intelligence sources said that, in Bangladesh ULFA works with Islamic militants together.  Now many sources are saying that, some militant groups of Bangladesh are using the arms of ULFA.  Bangladesh police have already recovered a lot of arms and ammunitions at Mymensing district in Bangladesh.  This district’s border is nearby Assam.  Therefore, police suspected that, these arms were left by ULFA.  The home ministry of Bangladesh is going to search and recover the arms left by ULFA.  Some of the police officers say that, it is not an easy job because more than fifty outlaw groups are in Bangladesh and most of them are Islamic militant.  ULFA worked with them and then most of the outlaw groups were nursed by an intelligence organization (now State Department of America says that it is a militant organization) of a particular country.

Current government of Bangladesh has blocked that interfere of that intelligence group in Bangladesh already.  Consequently the outlaw groups have already lost their power.  More to the point that already the trials of the criminals from the war are ongoing now and most of the big shot of those criminals are now in jail.  These criminals from the war are the main leader and the brain of the Islamic militant groups of Bangladesh.  They are supposedly the main agent of that particular country’s intelligence organization. ULFA has got that, they have no room in Bangladesh.  But, Bangladesh has to face the consequence of ULFA and the illegal arms of ULFA are one of them.  Islamic Militants are using their illegal arms.

Bangladesh is all set to frame a national gold policy to smooth the progress and expansion of jewelry business in Bangladesh. Last month the jewelers of Bangladesh had demanded the formation of a national gold policy to make conform for the Bangladesh’s jewelry market, and allow them to buy bullion from the international market.

BJA – The Bangladesh Jewelers Association had written a letter to M Faruk Khan, the Commerce Minister, seeking his urgent intervention in this connection. They claimed that the minister had assured them of fulfilling his earlier pledge of formulating the policy within three months.

After receiving the letter from the BJA, the ministry of commerce formed an inter-ministerial committee in April to evaluate the demand, sources in the ministry said. In the last meeting, the committee members decided to formulate the gold import policy after scrutinizing the relevant policies of the neighboring countries, officials said.

“The committee also decided to make a jewelry industry policy, under the supervision of the industries ministry, immediately after formulation of the import policy,” an official said. The import policy will allow Bangladesh’s jewelry manufacturers to purchase gold through proper channels, which will benefit both the government and the gold businessmen.

Considering the present critical situation of the goldsmiths, the government is very much positive about formulation of the policy. It would rehabilitate them and also change the present large-scale migrating trend of the local goldsmiths to neighboring India,” a commerce ministry said.

“It is the failure of the successive government that they could not formulate a national gold policy in forty years since independence. Most of the countries, including India, Pakistan and China, have formulated their own gold policies long ago. We are very happy indeed to know that a national gold policy is going to be formulated immediately,” BJA president Dilip Roy said.

He also said the policy would help the jewelry industry flourish as a major export-oriented sector. “Soon after the implementation of the policy, the government should concentrate on solving the problems and exploring the prospects of exporting gold and diamond jewelry. The sector has a huge potential across the world,” said Enamul Haq Khan, former general secretary of BJA.

According to the reports there is clearly a bright prospect of Bangladesh’s gold and diamond jewelry and stuffs in the global market. Dilip Roy concluded that especially in the Middle East, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong and Malaysia there is a good market for the jewelry from Bangladesh. At present, laws do not permit traders to import gold from the international market, or to export gold ornaments.

Well it seems like the ITD deal in Dhaka is going to get new opportunities in the region. Thus, Thai contractors will see greater opportunities to build basic infrastructure and public utilities in Bangladesh after Italian-Thai Development Plc has won this contract and ITD deal for an elevated expressway in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

The Italian-Thai Development Plc of Bangladesh has won the bid to build the four-lane road in three-and-a-half years. This is the largest public-private partnership in Bangladesh which is expected to create a lot of openings, approximately 5,000 jobs for Thai workers during the construction period.

The 40-billion-baht, 26-kilometre expressway will link Hazrat Shahjalal airport in northern Dhaka and Jatrabari district in the southeast of the city, helping to alleviate traffic congestion and enhance communications efficiency.

The Thai government was directly involved in negotiations with Bangladesh as part of its policy of supporting Thai construction businesses abroad.

The Bangladeshi government will own 30% of the project with financial support from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

Kiat Sittheeamorn, president of the Thailand Trade Representative, and other Thai officials recently attended the foundation stone-laying ceremony for the project.

He said Bangladesh, which still lacks basic infrastructure, is planning several megaprojects including ports, a superhighway network, a new international airport, mass-transit systems and power generation.

The “Bangladesh: Vision 2021″ project of the Bangladesh government aims to make the country a regional economic and commercial hub by that year. Mr Kiat said to the officials that Thailand’s public and private sectors were ready to help the country meet that goal.

Well there are updates from Dhaka, Bangladesh that Bangladesh will fire the chiefs of the country’s securities regulator after an independent probe blamed them for the recent stock market crash, as per the finance minister’s statement.

The benchmark Dhaka Stock Exchange General (DGEN) index touched a high of 8918.51 points on December 5 last year before plunging to around 5,200 points in two months, gutting hundreds of thousands of small investors.

In the month of January the government ordered a probe into the crash after weeks of violent protests by investors and amid media reports alleging some traders manipulated the market with the help of regulators.

The government published the 284-page probe report Sunday, with finance minister A.M.A Muhith vowing legal action against the manipulators.

He said the government would replace the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman and his two deputies this week.

“The government thinks that the SEC should be recast to restore confidence in the capital market,” the finance minister told reporters on Saturday night.

The minister said the government would conduct further probe into the allegations that some businessmen linked to the ruling Awami League party were involved in a stocks scam.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange of Bangladesh, which now trades at about 6,000 points, was one of the world’s best performing markets between 2007 and 2010, taking Bangladesh up; but experts warned of a bubble in which many small investors were caught up.

To help overseas Bangladeshi workers, Bangladesh has launched a state-run Expatriate Welfare Bank to fund those workers who are going overseas and to handle their remittances which is a major source of foreign exchange.

From Bangladesh, about seven million people are employed abroad, most of them in the Middle East, and they send home about $10bn a year, as per the Finance Ministry officials. Remittances are the second biggest source of foreign earnings for Bangladesh after garment exports, which are worth about $16bn a year.

“Workers can borrow funds from the bank at lower interest rates to meet expenses for going abroad,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said while launching the bank.

“The bank will also help expatriate workers to send money to their families in Bangladesh at lower handling charges,” she said.

A senior official of the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment said it was hoped the bank would boost remittances.

Expatriate Welfare Bank, with an initial paid up capital of 5 billion taka ($69m), will offer loans to workers at 9% interest which is quite lower than that offered by commercial banks. “Borrowers will have to offer a collateral, but for those who cannot, there will be a supervisory loan,” the ministry official reported. Managed and private banks in Bangladesh charge more than 13% interest on general loans. So it look likes overseas workers of Bangladesh will be benefitted as well as the country.

World Bank is providing full support to Bangladesh and Nepal to protect their wildlife. Bangladesh and Nepal are getting helped by the WB for the first phase of a program on strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection in Asia.

The Washington-based bank has approved an amount of 36-million U.S. dollars for Bangladesh and a 3-million U.S. dollar for Nepal for their first phase of the Adaptable Program Loan, as determined in a bank statement released on the subject.

It said the project will assist the governments to enhance shared capacity, institutions, knowledge and incentives in tackling illegal wildlife trade and other selected regional conservation threats to habitats in border areas, while promoting ecotourism.

South Asia is home to 13-15 percent of the world’s biodiversity and hosts some of the most endangered species on Earth, it said adding habitats across Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal are home to over 65 percent of the 3,000 or so remaining wild tigers.

According to the World Bank, pressures such as deforestation, habitat loss, pollution, and poaching of wild animals have put the environmental and ecological balance under severe threat.

The project will tackle conservation threats to habitats in border areas and clamp down on the illegal wildlife trade of species such as the tiger, snow leopard, rhinoceros and elephant in increasingly fragmented habitats, it said.

As per the the World Bank’s statement, Bangladesh Wildlife is holding the largest remaining population of tigers in the Sundarbans & it is the largest single block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world. Also the environmental and ecological balance of the country is under severe threat. Right now, studies about Bangladesh Wildlife show that 4-5% of faunal species and about 10% of floral diversity have become extinct in the last century.

For environmental protection Women’s Sari Squad, a small group of local women in southern Bangladesh has come forward as the guardians of the Chunati Wildlife Reserve. Wives, mothers and villagers go every day in their green saris to patrol the forest with the government rangers to seek out anyone who try to spoil the insubstantial eco-system of the reserve.

Dilwara, a member of the Women’s Sari Squad patrolsaid that the when the group moves through the forest in their green sari, the illicit loggers are intimidated and stay away from their sight.

The Chunati Wildlife Reserve was once a victim of excessive logging and farming but now it is beginning to thrive, as the green regularly encounters wild birds, monkeys, foxes and even elephants.

The Women’s Sari Squad patrols are just one aspect of a broader plan to nurse Chunati Wildlife Reserve back to its awesome natural beauty. The program to protect wildlife sanctuary in Bangladesh is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and Germany’s development agency GTZ. It supports government-community partnerships to work on the lines of participatory development so both parties can be benefitted from conserving the wildlife sanctuary in Bangladesh. The ongoing project has rejuvenated this 25-year-old wildlife sanctuary that serves as a passageway for Asian elephants migrating between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

This definition includes two key concepts: The concept of needs, in particular the essential needs of the world’s poor should be given priority, and the idea of limitations imposed by technology and society’s ability to meet environmental present and future.

United Nations Permanent Forum has adopted this view and actually identified four “interrelated and mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable development: economic, social, environmental and” cultural “is newly added in the fourth as an important pillar because” Cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. ”

Global mining’s efforts for sustainable development

In 1999, the International Council on Metals and the Environment published a set of case studies on mining and indigenous peoples and issued a clear message that mining companies “should take a more comprehensive approach to sustainable development and to integrate principles of sustainable development into their relations with indigenous peoples in such a way to contribute to meaningful outcomes for indigenous communities.”

This development led to the formation of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) in 2001 to act as a catalyst for performance improvement in the mining and metals industry by launching various imperatives, one of which – is to enhance mining’s contribution to development and poverty reduction through multi-stakeholder partnerships worldwide.

At present, ICMM has global membership consisting of 19 large mining and metals corporations as well as 30 mining associations and global commodity associations worldwide. To address the core sustainable development challenges by the industry, all member-companies and associates (which include those that have mining operations in the Philippines) have committed to implement the ICMM Sustainable Development Framework consisting of 10 Principles, four of which are directly related to mining and metals, namely: (1) implement and maintain ethical business practices and sound corporate governance; (2) integrate sustainable development considerations within the corporate decision-making process; (3) uphold fundamental human rights and respect cultures, customs and values of those affected by mining activities; and (4) contribute to the social, economic and institutionalized development of the communities in which we operate.

Local CSR & sustainable development initiatives

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Philippines has gradually evolved since its modest start not too long ago. Initially, CSR had focused mainly on basic philanthropy, business ethics, and corporate governance.

But in recent years, it has expanded in a dramatic way to include broader set of socio-economic development programs for the benefits of all stakeholders concerned. Not only that, many corporations are now also integrating their social commitments into their core business strategy to ensure company-wide implementation starting from the top down to the lowest levels of organization.

In the case of mining, the local industry has just institutionalized its own specific CSR and further incorporated into it a number of sustainable and community-based development initiatives and other laudable programs that go beyond mandatory compliance. After conducting many months of extensive research, nationwide workshops and consultations with various stakeholders, the industry’s first integrated CSR Handbook was finally completed thanks to the concerted efforts of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP). Art Disini, COMP Chairman, informed me at one time that the final CSR guidelines will be distributed to all member-companies for implementation within the first quarter.

As a path toward greater responsibility, CSR news industry is generally defined as “the commitment of businesses to contribute to sustainable development, in collaboration with employees, their families, local communities and society in particular to improve the quality of life, so a good business and good for development. ”

From the perspective of responsible mining, even the local industry also identified areas of CSR following industry-specific: (1) the fair and equitable sharing of benefits between business, government and mining communities, ( 2) adequate protection of the environment before, during and even long after mining has ceased, (3) the recognition of rights and participation in communities and indigenous peoples in the mining sector, and (4) effective communication and sensitivity to local socio-cultural practices.