Bangladesh has unveiled a $1.85 billion investment roadmap to support a “Just Transition” towards a low-carbon economy, with a focus on protecting workers, creating green jobs and expanding social protection ahead of the COP31 climate summit.
The roadmap, presented at a high-level national dialogue in Dhaka on Thursday, identifies 69 activities across six sectors: energy, transport, construction, agriculture, waste, and industrial processes and product use.
Each activity includes an indicative budget, responsible institution, implementation timeline and measurable indicator, officials said.
The framework was developed by mapping 14 national policy documents, including Bangladesh’s NDC 3.0, National Adaptation Plan and Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100. Some 258 aligned commitments were narrowed to 33 priority commitments and 69 activities following consultations involving nearly 200 representatives from government, business, labour, civil society, youth and academia.
State Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shaikh Faridul Islam called for greater political momentum for Just Transition ahead of COP31, stressing inter-ministerial cooperation and youth participation.
“Bangladesh’s transition towards a low-carbon economy must be a just transition,” said Mohammad Navid Saffiullah, an additional secretary at the environment ministry.
Of the $1.85 billion investment envelope, about $250.6 million has been identified for direct costs including training, grants and institutional strengthening. A further $1.5975 billion is expected to come from commercial and development finance institutions, including IDCOL.
The investment envelope represents about 1.59% of the estimated cost of implementing Bangladesh’s NDC 3.0.
Officials said the costed framework could help Bangladesh seek climate finance and development support by presenting specific investment needs rather than broad funding requests.
The International Labour Organization and the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling provided technical support for the initiative, which is funded by Sweden through the ILO-Sida Global Partnership.
The roadmap places skills development, reskilling, social protection and worker participation at the centre of the transition, reflecting concerns that the shift to cleaner technologies could disrupt jobs and livelihoods.
With COP31 approaching, the key challenge will be turning the proposed investment pipeline into projects, jobs and social protection for workers and communities affected by the transition.
