DEVELOPMENT OF NATURAL CAPITAL ACCOUNTS, DATA, TOOLS, AND ANALYSES
In FY25, significant progress was made in CIC grant activities in Bangladesh. The land and forest accounts were completed, and the report Review of the Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification Framework for Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Bangladesh was finalized, providing recommendations for designing an effective monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) system for reducing point source air pollution.
The report (not yet published externally) was presented to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change and the Department of Environment, promoting a strategic decision to prioritize development of a continuous emissions monitoring program—Bangladesh’s adaptation of CleanSYS—instead of a conventional MRV system to monitor air pollutant emissions from major point sources, ensure regular disclosure of preliminary data, and enable immediate enforcement of emissions standards by the Department of Environment. This policy shift resulted in adjustment of the indicative trigger for the third Green and Climate Resilient Development Credit to align with the new approach.
INFORMING INVESTMENTS AND POLICIES
GPS activities in FY25 directly shaped three major World Bank investments. For the Strengthening Institutions for Transparency and Accountability project, GPS-supported advisory services identified critical gaps in Bangladesh’s environmental statistics infrastructure and informed design of the project’s data component for production, dissemination, and use of priority environmental statistics.
GPS activities were also instrumental in securing two prior actions for the Second Green and Climate Resilient Development Credit. By organizing stakeholder consultation and dissemination of the National Air Quality Management Plan, GPS continued to support the plan and the 2024 Environmental Enforcement Guidelines, both of which were adopted as prior actions for the Second Green and Climate Resilient Development Credit, demonstrating GPS’s direct contribution to unlocking US$500 million in climate financing.
GPS activities played a foundational role in preparation for the Bangladesh Clean Air Project through feasibility studies for assessing technical, institutional, and financial viability of key interventions, including the first phase of the continuous emissions monitoring program—a major project component that the project will now finance.
On the policy side, GPS analytics directly informed development of the 2024 Environmental Enforcement Guidelines, which have been officially adopted. The guidelines introduce rules-based, progressive sanctions under the polluter pays principle: a framework developed through GPS- supported analytics that examined international best practices, assessed enforcement capacity, and modeled potential sanctions. Wide-ranging consultations ensured stakeholder buy-in, and dissemination activities promoted understanding in agencies responsible for implementation.
CAPACITY BUILDING AND INSTITUTIONALIZATION
A series of capacity-building and institutionalization events was conducted to enhance knowledge, skills, and engagement of stakeholders. These included workshops launching the National Air Quality Management Plan and the Environmental Enforcement Guidelines; focused workshops on environmental fiscal instruments; and training sessions on land, forest, and ecosystem accounts, which 174 participants from several governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the Statistics and Informatics Division of the Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of Environment, the Bureau of Statistics, the Forest Department, and the Department of Environment, attended.
Consultation workshops were held that explored investment opportunities and sustainable financial instruments for livelihoods and conservation in the Sundarbans, and eight focus group discussions were held with coastal communities on alternative livelihood options, providing valuable insights for project design. Together, these activities promoted collaboration and informed projects and policy frameworks, supporting inclusive environmental governance and sustainable development goals.
COMMUNICATION
The Bangladesh Environment Adviser launched the National Air Quality Management Plan (2024–30) on November 5, 2024, which drew national media attention. A blog and video were produced to support communications efforts for the plan.
