Growth dividend from greening of the economy

Bangladesh is a rapidly developing economy facing the challenge of climate change. Climate experts have assessed that Bangladesh is among the top 10 most vulnerable countries due to the impact of climate change. With adverse impacts of climate change staring in the eye Bangladesh people and its leaders are gearing up to the task. The government is well aware of the need to integrate climate change considerations in the national development process. It is also a strong player in the international fora in managing the global climate change outcomes. Several climate change strategies have been developed and climate change considerations are increasingly being integrated with national development strategies. Our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who chairs the Climate Vulnerability Forum (CVF), has made climate resilient strategies in Bangladesh the fulcrum of our development strategies, as prescribed in the 8th Five-Year Plan (8FYP), Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, Perspective Plan 2041, and the forthcoming Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan. Back in 2019, Bangladesh was the first country whose Parliament had declared climate change as a "planetary emergency", an idea promoted by the then Bangladeshi President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union. That emphasis emanating from our parliamentarians continues. It is now established, following in-depth global research on climate and the economy, that we can be 'green' and we can grow.Global research by pioneer climate economistSir Nicholas Stern (Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, 2006) has shown that the long-term benefits of eco-friendly economic growth far outweighs the costs. The conclusion: greening of the economy does not have to be growth reducing. There is growing research evidence that greening of the economy yields growth dividends that generate resources for financing the additional investment. South Korean experience provides a menu of options and best practice examples. South Korea was one of the fastest growing economies of the 20th century, an economy that transformed from a low-income country to a high- income country, all in a span of 50 years.They did it in an environmentally friendly way leaving a green economy for future generations. But make no mistake, greening of the economy over a few decades required massive investment that had to be financed out of the growth dividends that the rapidly growing Korean economy enjoyed.