The three-day international conference styled ‘Bangladesh Energy Prosperity-2050’ concluded on Saturday with a 21 point declaration.
The declarations were made in solidarity with conference organisers and co-organizers, policymakers, parliamentarians, investors and financiers, energy experts, academicians, think tanks, youths and broader civil society representatives.
This declaration was moderated by Ziaul Hoque Mukta from Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) and read by Hasan Mehedi, Member Secretary of Bangladesh Working Group on External Debt (BWGED), and Member Secretary of the Conference on Bangladesh Energy Prosperity 2050.
The closing ceremony was chaired by Hasanul Haq Inu, MP and Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Information, and was graced by Waseqa Ayesha Khan MP, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources and Co-chair of Climate Parliament Bangladesh, as the Guest of Honor. While addressing, Hasanul Haq Inu stated, we must ensure the demand projection for energy is calculated accurately and estimated production is accurate and accountable.
Building overcapacity and infrastructure for energy generation is detrimental both financially and environmentally for Bangladesh. We need to take into consideration of the miscalculations before our policy planning.
The three-day conference, the BEP 2050 took place from April 27 to 29, 2023, at the Bangabandhu Military Museum in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
The conference aimed to promote dialogue among policymakers, parliamentarians, investors and financiers, energy experts, infrastructure developers, renewable energy promoters, academia, civil society, youths, and local communities toward creating a green, clean, and sustainable energy pathway for Bangladesh.
The conference was designed under five thematic pillars of harmonised national plans on energy and power, energy mix and just transition, financial and institutional arrangements, bilateral and multilateral cooperation, and environmental and social issues.
More than 250 participants attended the conference nationally and internationally, including policymakers, parliamentarians, financiers and investors, academicians, think- tanks, CSOs, campaigners etc.
They pointed out that it is time to take a unified, coherent approach to ending fossil fuel subsidies and tariffs and advancing towards green industrialization. We require both active private and public sector participation and cross-ministerial cooperation to accomplish this.
Analysts, while addressing, mentioned that there is a strong political will in our country as our Honourable Prime Minister has committed to achieving the MCPP, however, we must take a coordinated approach to make it a reality.
Participants attended the conference from the co-organizing entities, including the Bangladesh working group on external debt (BWGED), Climate Parliament Bangladesh, and The Earth Society in association with ActionAid Bangladesh, Bright Green Energy Foundation (BGEF), Center for Participatory Research and Development (CPRD), Centre For Policy Dialogue (CPD), Change Initiative, CLEAN (Coastal Livelihood And Environmental Action Network), Participatory Research And Action Network (PRAAN), SOLIS Power And; Energy Limited and Waterkeepers Bangladesh.