Social watchdogs and development activists today urged the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to provide more support for promoting renewable energies in Bangladesh. They unequivocally called for ensuring a just and equitable transition by incorporating environmental and social safeguards, labor standards, transparency, and accountability.
They raised these concerns while launching a demonstration campaign titled "Protect People and Planet Over Profit" at Hotel Safe Garden in Rajshahi city. The campaign aims to highlight deficiencies and shortcomings in the ADB's safeguard framework.
It emphasises the necessity of robust accountability mechanisms to hold the ADB and its project partners accountable for any adverse environmental or social impacts resulting from their activities. Three environmental and social organizations—Paribartan, Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (CLEAN), and Bangladesh Working Group on Ecology and Development (BWGED)—along with civil society groups and concerned citizens, launched the demonstration.
At the launching meeting, Paribartan Director Rashed Ibney Obayed, Program Officer Soma Hasan, and Program Organizer Afsana Mimi addressed the audience. Rashed Obayed stated that the campaign represents grassroots mobilization of communities, activists, and civil society organizations committed to promoting justice and sustainability in development.
He also emphasised that a truly progressive safeguards policy cannot ignore the challenges faced by human rights defenders, workers, and a private sector operating without transparency. Rashed mentioned that the ADB's safeguard policy aims to assist developing member countries in addressing environmental and social risks in development projects and minimizing or mitigating adverse impacts on people and the environment.
