Speakers at policy breakfast urge clean air law, say it is a constitutional right, not a luxury

Speakers at a policy breakfast on Thursday underscored the need for the enactment of a clean air act and the inclusion of strict standards to control air pollutants emitted from power plants in the 2022 Air Pollution Control Rules.

They also called for strong administrative mechanisms and public-private partnerships with accountability in renewable energy financing.

Clean air is not a luxury—it is a constitutional right, they said.

The policy breakfast, titled "Revisiting Energy Policies for Ensuring Clean Air," was jointly organised by the Center for Atmospheric Pollution Studies (CAPS), Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), and the Center for Participatory Research and Development (CPRD) at the conference hall of the BIP in Dhaka city.

CAPS Chairman Professor Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder presented the keynote paper at the event, which was chaired by Professor Md Shahidul Islam, Chairman of the Department of Geography and Environment at Dhaka University.

The country’s half a dozen coal-fired power plants are not only polluting the air but are also harmful to agriculture and biodiversity, said Abu Sayed Md Kamruzzaman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC).

Nayoka Martinez Bäckström, First Secretary and Deputy Head of Development Cooperation (Environment & Climate Change) of the Embassy of Sweden in Dhaka, highlighted the support of many European partners for a clean and just energy transition through innovation in energy efficiency and renewable energy, and by enhancing grid connectivity, distribution, and storage.

She also emphasised the importance of involving civil society organisations, researchers, think tanks, youth, and industry stakeholders in energy sector coordination.

The country’s energy demand can be reduced through increased public transport and greater use of renewable energy, which will also help control urban air pollution, said BIP President Professor Adil Muhammad Khan.

CPRD Executive Director Md Shamsuddoha stressed the need for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement, which is currently missing in national energy policies.

He called for ensuring civil society participation in national-level policymaking.

Mohammad Fazle Reza Suman, Convener of the Advisory Board of BIP; Dr Md Saifur Rahman, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; and Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director at the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), urged both the interim and future governments to rely on local expert panels rather than foreign consultants for developing energy and other policies.

Azizjst@yahoo.com