ADB promises $1 billion annually to boost Bangladesh’s environmental goals

Bangladesh has just received a major boost in its fight against climate change and environmental challenges. 

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has committed to providing the country with $1 billion in concessional financing every year for the next five years. 

This promise was made during a recent meeting between Hoe Yun Jeong, the ADB Country Director, and Syeda Rizwana Hasan, the Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Adviser.

The meeting, which took place at the Forest Department in Dhaka, focused on ADB’s ongoing support for Bangladesh’s climate resilience efforts.

Rizwana emphasized that ADB’s future projects should be more focused on climate and social inclusivity, moving away from the usual infrastructure projects.

During their discussion, Rizwana shared her government’s ambitious plans to restore eight major rivers in Bangladesh’s eight divisions. 

She urged ADB to make cleaning the rivers around Dhaka a priority. 

The adviser also mentioned the need for practical, on-the-ground actions rather than just planning, and called for concessional loans to help tackle pressing environmental issues such as solid waste management, sewage treatment, salinity, waterlogging, and human-elephant conflicts.

In response, Yun Jeong assured Bangladesh of the bank‍‍`s continued support, saying, “ADB will provide Bangladesh with US$ 1 billion annually in concessional financing over the next five years.” 

He also promised to offer grants to help Bangladesh meet its environmental objectives.

Yun Jeong showed a particular interest in river-cleaning initiatives and highlighted the importance of increasing community involvement in these projects. 

He emphasized that ADB would ensure public consultations during the implementation of the projects to ensure they reflect the needs of local communities.

Also present at the meeting were Bangladesh’s environment secretary, the chief conservator of forests, and ADB representatives. 

The discussions underscored the importance of collaboration between Bangladesh and international partners like ADB in tackling the country‍‍`s environmental challenges.