Dhaka: Bangladesh has unveiled its 'Just Transition' chapter as part of the updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0), detailing 69 specific activities across six key sectors, underpinned by a comprehensive $1.85 billion investment plan. The announcement was made during a national high-level dialogue titled "Advancing Just Transition in Bangladesh," held at a city hotel.
According to United News of Bangladesh, the dialogue was spearheaded by the Department of Environment (DoE) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), with technical support from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM). This initiative is funded by Sweden through the ILO-Sida Global Partnership. The chapter is a result of a meticulous cross-mapping of 14 national policy documents, including NDC 3.0, the National Adaptation Plan, and the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, among others. These efforts have distilled 258 aligned commitments into 33 priority commitments, forming a consolidated action matrix of 69 activities.
Spanning sectors such as energy, transport, construction, agriculture, waste, and industrial processes and product use (IPPU), each activity is allocated a specific budget, timeframe, and measures for success. Of the total investment envelope, $250.6 million is earmarked for direct costs like training, grants, and institutional strengthening. The remaining $1,597.5 million is expected to be mobilized through commercial and development finance institutions, including IDCOL, emphasizing minimal direct government expenditure.
The financial commitment represents approximately 1.59 percent of the total estimated cost for implementing NDC 3.0. The formulation of this chapter involved extensive consultations, including technical webinars, inter-ministerial sessions, and sector-specific discussions, engaging nearly 200 stakeholders from various sectors.
Key stakeholders such as the National Alliance for Just Transition Bangladesh (NAJTB) and the Bangladesh Employers' Federation (BEF) played significant roles in the consultation process. Governance of the chapter is marked by a collaborative institutional network. The DoE and MoEFCC hold overarching responsibility, while a national-level Just Transition taskforce, chaired by the Ministry of Labour and Employment (MoLE), provides a platform for dialogue among workers' and employers' organizations.
The NDC Advisory Committee, established in 2022, continues to serve as the central coordination mechanism, with each ministry and agency appointing a Just Transition focal point. At the enterprise level, bipartite committees and sectoral collective bargaining are expected to operationalize the framework, ensuring that training and protections are effectively implemented.
Organizers highlighted that the detailed annex provides ministries with a strategic pipeline for accessing climate finance opportunities, with the upcoming COP31 identified as a pivotal moment to showcase these efforts to development partners.