No alternative to green economic recovery: Dr Atiur Rahman

The pandemic-induced economic slowdown has drawn further attention from the global leaders to the green growth agenda; hence, there is no alternative to green economic recovery, said former Bangladesh Bank governor Professor Dr Atiur Rahman.

“Discourse on prioritising climate change in development policies and plans were already there. Bangladesh was among the pioneers of leveraging green finance to cope with effects of climate change,” he said, adding that Bangladesh should push the green agenda both in the domestic and international arena.

He made the remarks while presenting the keynote paper on Wednesday at a webinar, titled ‘Green Economic Recovery in Bangladesh: Prospects and Challenges’, organised jointly by Unnayan Shamannay, BWGED, and BAPA, reads a press release.

Panel discussants of the webinar were: Founder of the Bangladesh Environment Network Professor Nazrul Islam, Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun, ICCAD Director Dr Solimul Huq, BGEF Chairperson Dipal Chandra Barua, RDF Chief Executive Golam Mostofa, and former additional secretary of Power Division Siddiqur Rahman.

Dr Fahmida Khatun emphasised on developing the right institutions to ensure green growth.

The government could ease the green recovery process by collecting additional revenue through utilisation of digital solutions, she opined.

Dr Solimul Huq inferred that along with the government other actors also need to come forward for green growth and sustainable development.