Bangladesh needs to decarbonise the transport sector for advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, moving towards eco-friendly routes and increasing access to employment and services, the World Bank says.
Electric vehicles (EVs) present a viable solution to significantly reduce vehicle emissions in cities and reduce reliance on fossil fuel imports for transport.
“Bangladesh must pick its own roadmap for the EV transition, beginning with which segments of e-mobility it wants to focus on,” said Dandan Chen, World Bank Operations Manager.
“We believe that the most significant opportunities lie in the 2 or 3-wheeler and public transport sectors, as they make economic sense and serve the majority.”
However, the transport sector plays a critical role in driving economic growth, but it is also the largest consumer of petroleum products in Bangladesh, accounting for 63 percent of consumption.
Unfortunately, the sector is also responsible for 15 percent of the country's total emissions, making it the second-highest domestic source of energy-related emissions and one of the fastest-growing in the region.
It is crucial to decarbonize the transportation sector in order to advance Bangladesh's sustainable development objectives, steer the country towards a more eco-friendly path, and enhance access to employment and services, as emphasized in the World Bank's Country Climate and Development Report.
This information was unveiled at a workshop on the two-day conference titled "The 11th South Asia Economic Policy Network Conference on Social Progress in South Asia" organised jointly by the World Bank and BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) at the BRAC Centre in the capital on Wednesday.
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges of Bangladesh and the World Bank, held a workshop to accelerate the transition to electric mobility in public transport across South Asia and Southeast Asia.
However, with the transport sector responsible for approximately 25 percent of global CO2 emissions, decarbonization is crucial to achieve the Paris Agreement's objectives of limiting global warming to well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels.
The workshop’s main objectives were to create awareness of EV development in the subregion and Bangladesh, enhance the capacity of policy makers, encourage Regional Cooperation Mechanism on Low Carbon Transport, and to facilitate discussions on policy recommendations and for accelerating the transition to electric mobility of public transport in Bangladesh.