Bangladesh Country Environmental Analysis 2023

The 2023 Country Environmental Analysis (CEA) aims to support the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) in informing policies and investments for improving environmental health and pollution management, a critical step towards a green growth pathway. The CEA focuses on accomplishing the following:

• Identifying the environmental priorities of the country and assessing how they affect health and productivity;
• Identifying interventions to tackle those priorities;
• Assessing the strengths and shortcomings in the country’s environmental governance framework to address the environmental priorities and implement the proposed interventions; and
• Making recommendations based on that analysis to strengthen governance and agencies’ institutional capacity for environmental management.

The CEA identified ambient and household air pollution; inadequate drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH); and exposure to chemicals such as lead and arsenic as Bangladesh’s environmental priorities, since they account for over 32 percent of the country’s premature deaths annually. Based on cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit, and other analyses, the CEA recommends a set of policies, investments, and technical assistance activities that could halve the number of those annual premature deaths by 2030, while contributing to greener, better infrastructure and services. Table 11.1 in chapter 11 summarizes the CEA’s recommendations.

Among priority interventions, the CEA recommends:

• Expanding the range of environmental policy instruments beyond command-and-control to, for example, economic, market-, litigation-, and information-based policies;
• Improving analytical capacity and data management for informed decision-making and enhanced enforcement;
• Conducting additional studies on the sources of heavy metals to better identify and design further interventions; implementing a national program for air quality management prioritizing clean cooking and emissions abatement in power generation, waste management, and heavy-duty vehicles;
• Enacting a comprehensive package of WASH interventions combined with improved capacity at Water Supply and Sewerage Authorities; and
• Developing a framework for integrated waste management, covering plastic, electronic, and other waste streams.

This CEA compiles the findings and recommendations of several papers and stakeholder consultations. The report is structured in eleven chapters as follows:

• Chapter 1 introduces the report with information on the country context and the objectives, scope, and methodology of the CEA.
• Chapter 2 estimates the health effects and corresponding costs of environmental degradation. The chapter focuses on (a) outdoor and household air pollution (PM2.5), (b) lead exposure among children and adults, and (c) inadequate WASH, including arsenic contamination in drinking water and microbiological pollution.
• Chapter 3 summarizes key institutions and regulations for environmental management in Bangladesh, especially policy instruments and agencies that are relevant to the country’s environmental priorities. The chapter assesses the strengths and shortcomings of Bangladesh’s environmental governance system, including mechanisms for planning and organizational performance evaluation, interagency coordination, environmental monitoring and data management, enforcement, accountability, transparency, and public participation.
• Chapter 4 discusses the main elements of the environmental clearance system in Bangladesh, considering aspects such as the nature of environmental impact assessments, institutional leadership, and interagency coordination, screening and scoping processes, public participation, access to information, and evaluation of alternatives. The chapter assesses the adequacy of the environmental clearance system to address the country’s environmental priorities.
• Chapter 5 analyzes the costs and benefits of potential interventions to address household and outdoor air pollution; inadequate water, hygiene, and sanitation; arsenic contamination in Bangladesh; and lead exposure. Through this cost-benefit analysis (CBA), the chapter provides information for prioritizing interventions and better allocating the government’s limited resources.
• Chapter 6 analyzes air quality management in GDA and, through cost-effectiveness and CBA, identifies potential interventions to reduce human exposure to PM2.5 to the WHO’s Annual Interim Target 1 (35 ug/m3) by 2030.
• Chapter 7 discusses the prospects for green growth policies in Bangladesh that have the potential to tackle major environmental priorities—that is, air pollution and inadequate WASH. Through a CGE model, the chapter assesses potential economic, distributional, and environmental effects of the following policy experiments: (a) phaseout of energy subsidies, (b) carbon pricing (carbon tax and cap and trade system), and (c) investments in a water program (as envisaged in the BDP).
• Chapter 8 provides an overview of the physical elements of Bangladesh’s plastic-waste management system and outlines the key policy recommendations to support the transition to integrated plastic-waste management.
• Chapter 9 identifies the barriers to accessing green financing, especially to address environmental priorities, and proposes interventions to facilitate the flow of resources from green finance suppliers to sectors pursuing such resources.
• Chapter 10 identifies available environmental policy instruments, beyond traditional command-and-control, for improving environmental management in Bangladesh.
• Chapter 11 summarizes takeaways from each chapter and recommendations for policy and investment options to strengthen governance and institutional capacity to support the transition towards a green economy.