Carbon emissions in Narayanganj increase by 250,000 tonnes in 5yrs
Carbon emissions have increased by 234,000 tonnes in Narayanganj city area over the last five years. The industrial sector contributes the most to this, along with housing, commercial establishments, transportation and waste management sectors.
This situation was revealed in a study released by German-based Local Government for Sustainability (ICLEI) under the project South Asia Accelerating Climate Action through Urban Low Emission Development Strategy (Urban LEDS Phase II) funded by the European Union. The study report was submitted to the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) last November.
The study observes, the rate of carbon emissions or greenhouse gas increase is 5.8 per cent annually while per head emission stands at 1.16 tonnes, which is twice the national carbon emission rate per head.
Urban planners have expressed concern over carbon emissions and called for immediate and effective measures to tackle climate change. Besides, the city authorities have taken various initiatives, including using LED lights, renovation of canals and water bodies, as well as tree plantation, to reduce carbon emissions.
Records of the Urban LEDS Phase II project shows, 814,052 tonnes of greenhouse gas was emitted in 2014, including 190,349 tonnes from residential buildings, 63,552 tonnes from commercial and industrial buildings, 484,542 tonnes from the industrial sector, 23,178 tonnes from transportation, and 52,462 tonnes in waste.
Carbon emission rose to 1,048,199 tonnes in 2014, including 242,851 tonnes from residential buildings, 86,128 tonnes from commercial and industrial buildings, 611,230 tonnes from the industrial sector, 29,312 tonnes from transportation, and 78,624 tonnes in waste.
Bangladesh programme manager of Bangladesh Urban LEDS Phase II project, Zubair Rashid, said that Urban LEDS is a global project funded by the European Union and is under implementation in South Africa and in Bangladesh and India South Asian. Work on the project started in 2016 in Narayanganj and Rajshahi. In addition, technical assistance is being provided in four more cities. The project is being implemented with those two cities as models. The other four small towns are Singra, Sirajganj, Faridpur and Mongla. Technical assistance is being provided as a satellite.
Zubair Rashid said data on annual use of energy has been collected from different sectors including transport, waste, government buildings and residential and commercial sectors. Then ICLEI’s emission’s inventory tool was used to find out the amount of the city’s carbon emission a year. The data is being used to formulate the city’s action plan to fight climate change under the Urban LEDS Phase II.
According to the study, two pilot projects were taken in Narayanganj city as elsewhere in the different countries in the world as part of global plan to reduce carbon emission.To build a sustainable city, the NCC has formulated a climate resilience plan and has been working through the Urban LEDS Phase II project in coordination with the city development plan. In the meantime, a draft of a climate action plan has been prepared.
Urban planner Abdullah Al Fahad said, city carbon emissions are a matter of concern. Immediate steps are needed to fight climate change.
Narayanganj city corporation’s urban planner Moinul Islam said, different initiatives have already been taken up to reduce carbon emissions in the city. Under these initiatives, 13,000 LED lights will be installed and ‘carbon sinks’ will be built through renovating and preserving canals and water bodies in the city.
A project has been taken up on producing electricity from waste and installing solar panels on the city’s important buildings. Besides, air quality measuring equipment have been installed at three strategic points to measure the city’s air quality on regular basis.