BM Desk : Today, the World Bank (WB) authorized $640 million in loans to Bangladesh for two projects that will improve the country’s air quality and gas supply.
“Improving air quality and energy security are important economic and development priorities for Bangladesh,” stated Gayle Martin, the World Bank’s Interim Country Director for Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh will benefit from these two projects by increasing economic growth, productivity, and job creation.”

By enabling cost-effective financing for Petrobangla, the state-owned oil and gas corporation, the $350 million initiative for energy sector security enhancement will increase gas supply.

An IDA guarantee will leverage up to $2.1 billion in private investment over a span of seven years for new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports, thereby improving Petrobangla’s credit profile. Given that imported LNG constitutes more than a quarter of Bangladesh’s overall gas consumption, mainly for electricity generation, this initiative will ensure payment security and provide working capital to secure long-term LNG agreements, thereby decreasing dependence on costly spot market imports, according to the multilateral lender.

“This initiative will assist Bangladesh in enhancing gas supply security in a cost-effective way, leading to reliable and affordable electricity for both industries and residential users,” stated World Bank Senior Energy Specialist, Olayinka Bisiriyu Edebiri.

This $290 million project employs a holistic strategy to address air pollution, which resulted in over 159,000 premature fatalities and 2.5 billion days of illness in 2019, with health-related expenses amounting to 8.3 percent of GDP.

The annual levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Dhaka, a key element of air pollution, surpass WHO guidelines by 18 times.The project will enhance the air quality monitoring network of the Department of Environment by adding new stations and implementing a continuous emissions monitoring system for real-time tracking of significant industrial pollution sources, as reported by the WB.

Additionally, it aims to improve vehicle emissions management by introducing 400 zero-emission electric buses to replace polluting diesel vehicles and setting up charging stations. Along with deploying mobile testing units, it will also build five new Vehicle Inspection Centers and renovate two existing ones.
It is estimated that these transport improvements will reduce primary PM2.5 emissions by around 2,734 tons per year.

According to Ana Luisa Gomes Lima, Lead Environment Specialist at the World Bank, “this will be the first in a new series of programs to improve the country’s air quality.”
“In order to reduce air pollution, the project will enable regional discourse and data sharing.” Since gaining independence, the World Bank has given Bangladesh more than $45 billion in grants and low-interest credits, and it is one of the biggest users of IDA concessional financing.