Dhaka, Bangladesh – FAO, in partnership with the Department of Environment (DoE) and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, today launched a new project that will strengthen Bangladesh’s capacity to monitor environmental emissions. The Capacity Building Initiative for Transparency (CBIT) project will be implemented jointly with DoE with financial assistance from the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

CBIT will help Bangladesh meet the requirements of the Paris Agreement. (The Paris Agreement, signed in 2016, brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat and adapt to climate change, with enhanced technical and financial support to assist developing countries in the transition to low carbon and sustainable development pathways). The project will increase knowledge about the sources of greenhouse emissions and improve data sharing between ministries.

Bangladesh, despite being a relatively small contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, has shown great commitment to climate governance and has ratified the Paris Agreement.

This is one of the many CBIT projects that FAO is working on worldwide, but what is unique to Bangladesh is the fact that the project has a wider scope, including additional sectors beyond agriculture and forestry, to include waste, energy, and industry.

The honourable chief guest at the launch ceremony in Dhaka yesterday was Ziaul Hasan ndc, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Speaking at the event, FAO Representative Robert D Simpson stressed the importance of the government’s holistic plan to achieve SDG, which must include a rigorous effort to address environmental and climate change issues.

He said: “The global response to climate change today will determine how we feed future generations tomorrow. Agriculture, including forestry, crops, fisheries and livestock production, generate around a fifth of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. This must be reduced by 2030 to achieve the goal of limiting global warming to 2°C.

“The CBIT project will help Bangladesh track its climate action and build the trust and confidence that all countries are contributing their share to the global effort to address climate change.”

Speaking to the General Assembly last month, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that countries need to transition to ‘green economies’ as a matter of priority in order to meet the climate crisis challenge.

“The scientific community is clear.  We need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030, and reach net zero emissions by 2050. All the tools and knowledge to move from the grey economy to the green economy are already available. So let us embrace transformation.”

A number of other government officials attended the ceremony, including Rafique Ahammed, Director General, Department of Environment; Mohammed Shafiul Alam Chowdhury, Chief Conservator of Forests, Bangladesh Forest Department; and Shamim Al Razi, Additional Secretary (Development), Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.