Bangladesh and the World Bank signed two financing agreements totaling US$900 million on Sunday to help the country achieve environment sustainability, 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 in cities,’ said Abdoulaye Seck, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, said a press release.
He said, ‘These two financings will Bangladesh achieve green growth and build climate resiliency, 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 $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 and 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.
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 incentivise 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 kilometers of the highway from Cox Bazaar in the south to Panchagarh in north of Bangladesh. The project will benefit about 17 million people living in these selected urban areas.
The project prioritises 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 kilometers of footpaths, 10 regional bus terminals, 10 kitchen markets, 10 supermarkets, 10 parks, 10 community centers, 20 public toilets, 880 kilometers of urban roads, and, 2000 meters of bridges/culverts among others.
The agreements for the Second Bangladesh Green and Climate Resilient Development Credit and the Resilient Urban And Territorial Development Project were signed by respectively Shahriar Siddiky, secretary, and Farid Aziz, additional secretary, Economic Relations Division, Government of Bangladesh and Abdoulaye Seck on behalf of Bangladesh and the World Bank, respectively.
The World Bank was among the first development partners to support Bangladesh following its independence. Since then, the World Bank has committed more than $45 billion in International Development Association (IDA) financing in the form of grants, interest-free loans, and concessional credits to help the country address its development priorities.
In recent years, Bangladesh has been among the largest recipients of the World Bank’s interest-free credits.