Dhaka, Bangladesh, December 06, 2017 – Bangladesh’s ambitious plans to meet its climate targets under the Paris Agreement alongside policy priorities, represent about $172 billion worth of investment opportunities by 2030 in sectors including green buildings, transport infrastructure, climate-smart urban water, and renewable energy, says a new report issued by IFC, a member of the World Bank Group today.
The analysis is part of a regional study that examined the climate-investment opportunities in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. These countries together represent 7.38 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions. The report also identifies $3.1 trillion of climate-smart investment opportunities in India, $42 billion in Bhutan, $2 billion in the Maldives, $46 billion in Nepal, and $18 billion in Sri Lanka.
“The only way that the South Asian countries can take advantage of these climate investment opportunities is with a strong and engaged private sector,” said IFC CEO Philippe Le Houérou. “We also need to have a comprehensive approach to creating markets for climate business in key sectors. That means putting in place necessary policy frameworks, promoting competition, and building capacity and skills to open new markets.”
Bangladesh is a fast-growing economy, driven by exports from the development of its garments industry, and is likely to achieve its goal of reaching middle-income country status by 2021. As a country vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, the government has put in place more than 200 measures to mitigate the effects of climate change. Bangladesh’s climate targets emphasize resilience across all sectors and focus on emission reductions from the power, transport, and industry sectors.
The government is catalyzing private sector climate investment, which is central to achieving its development objectives, by incentivizing private lending to enterprises that invest in green technologies, and the financing of decentralized climate-friendly energy programs, such as solar home systems.
IFC estimates of climate-smart investment opportunities point to the following sectors:
- $3.2 billion in renewable energy, created by the government’s pledge to generate 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2020, going up to 3,800 MW by 2041, and 100 percent by 2050.
- $118 billion in green buildings arising from its emphasis on energy efficiency in buildings and annual addition of 500,000 urban and 3.5 million rural houses to bridge an annual shortfall of 5 million homes.
- $23.7 billion in transport infrastructure to help achieve its goals of a multimodal public transport-oriented sector, with a focus on developing its inland waterways network.
- $13 billion in climate-smart urban wastewater, in line with the government’s interest in seeking investment in water-related infrastructure and water management.
- $4 billion in municipal solid waste management, to bring collection up to 80 percent in 2030 and manage the increasing amounts of waste generated by a rapidly urbanizing population.
- $9.1 billion in climate-smart agriculture, reflecting the government’s intention to modernize the sector and encourage climate-smart irrigation practices.
IFC is strongly committed to supporting the private sector in the South Asia region. Since 2005, IFC has invested $2.6 billion of its own funds in long-term financing for climate-smart projects in South Asia and additionally mobilized almost $1 billion from other investors. The report is a follow-up to the Creating Markets in Climate Business report published last month in November 2017.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our capital, expertise, and influence to create markets and opportunities in the toughest areas of the world. In FY17, we delivered a record $19.3 billion in long-term financing for developing countries, leveraging the power of the private sector to help end poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit www.ifc.org.