The interim government of Bangladesh has published a draft of its Energy Policy 2025. Though the country is one of the most climate-vulnerable nations, it has continued to trail far behind other countries in its green energy transition, according to The Business Standard.

“[It lacks] proper organization,” said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), believing that the government is rushing the policy’s formulation, which has caused it to be incomplete and not practically executable. 

Since Bangladesh is so reliant on dirty energy, it continues to protect the economic interests of that industry and has been slow to invest time or money into cleaner energy sources, per the report.

Renewable energy made up a mere 4.5% of Bangladesh’s power sources as of June 2023. This includes solar, wind, hydro, and biomass.

As the world transitions away from fossil fuels toward cleaner energy sources and a cleaner economy, long-term investment in fossil fuel companies is becoming a liability. There is a growing push from researchers for governments around the world to put restrictions on new dirty energy projects, which could lead to a decline in the value of the minerals that fuel them.

Sometimes, funds allocated for sustainable projects are instead put toward some of the world’s largest polluters, which is a form of greenwashing. Greenwashing is a term used to describe the false or exaggerated claims a company makes to appear more environmentally friendly than it actually is.

Bangladesh’s newest energy policy revision promises 20% renewable energy generation by 2030 and 30% by 2041.

Some researchers do not think these goals are realistic or achievable, even though they grossly lag behind other countries, according to the report. Shahriar Ahmed Chowdhury, director of the Centre for Energy Research at United International University, said the plans “leave the targets vague.” 

Moazzem cited conflicting renewable energy policies as part of the plan’s problem, explaining that the discrepancies could confuse investors. “We must recognize that expanding renewable energy within an economic framework heavily dependent on fossil fuels is not practical.”

It seems that in order to please investors and make a concerted effort to increase renewable energy production, Bangladesh may need to go back to the drawing board. 

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