It’s a most serious concern that the greenhouse gas emission in Bangladesh exhibited a 218 per cent rise in only 27 years, as has been comprehensively explored by the world’s leading climate scientists. According to them, Bangladesh’s electricity generation is heavily dependent on fossil fuels, according to report prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) Working Group III. Against this dangerous phenomenon, it is distinctly clear that the world’s richest countries are overwhelmingly the highest emitters of greenhouse gas and the countries that emit the least, continue to be the most vulnerable to impacts of climate change.
Going back to the IPCC Working Group report, which distinctly shed light on Bangladesh’s reliance on coal, gas and oil, said the country still makes up 77 per cent of the energy mix. While the rollout of renewables has increased over time, with the addition of solar power, the much more prevalent use of natural gas has resulted in the share of renewables in the overall mix decreasing by approximately 8.6 per cent between 2014 and 2019. On the other hand, about 34 per cent of emissions are from the energy sector; 24 percent from industries; 22 per cent from agriculture, forestry and land use; 15 per cent from transport; and six percent from buildings, the report specified in line with global changes.
All these have been explained by AKM Saiful Islam, Professor of Institute of Water and Flood Management at Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology (BUET) here on Tuesday. According to his views, a more rapid, deep and immediate reduction of global greenhouse gas by 43 per cent by 2030 and methane reduction by 34 per cent by the aforesaid timeframe would be able to stabilise global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century. Recalling the Paris Agreement, the report said climate change has topped the agenda of politicians and the media, but it is still far from gaining the level of attention and action the crisis demands.
We deem it necessary that the IPCC report emphasised on investment in renewable energy, saying that net-zero government and corporate pledges are booming. But a stronger emphasis marked by a rapid-near-term action is necessitated to make it more vast and transformative taking into available technological options, in the best interest for a country like Bangladesh.
