Feature

A National Workshop titled 'Green Initiative: Way to go Green' was held at the Dhaka Chamber and Commerce and Industry (DCCI) at Motijheel. The workshop was held in association with DCCI and GTZ (an organisation of the German Federal Government).

I was lucky to be invited at this workshop being the fact that I have been blogging about the environment for over four years and was getting the chance to see how the corporate world in Bangladesh take their stance on combating global warming and climate change. The concept of the workshop was focused on 'Better Business through Going Green.'

The workshop was divided into two sessions. Zafar Osman, President of DCCI and Dr. Dietrich Stotiz, Programme Coordinator, GTZ-PROGRESS gave a welcome speech. Dr. Stotiz talked about the RMG sector, about how to improve production and eco-efficiency through skill development and promotion of innovation.

Later a presentation on 'Environmental Challenges of Business Today and in Future' was presented by Dr. A Atiq Rahman, Executive Director of Bangladesh Centre of Advanced Studies (BCAS). He discussed about how we can reduce our carbon footprint and what businesses should do to become more eco-efficient, as it showed that businesses save a lot of money if they were to “Go Green”.

Soon after, the working session began with some case studies from Environmentally Responsible Business by Munwar Mishbah Moin of Rahimafrooz. I got to know a lot about some CSR programmes by Rahimafrooz. There introduction to solar panels in rural Bangladesh has helped lighten thousands of homes. But Rahimafrooz is well-known for the distribution of lead acid car batteries and that Rahimafrooz recycles these harmful products safely in their own recycling factory. Also to create awareness of the environment, Rahimafrooz last year introduced a quiz competition for students titled 'Poribesh Utshob 2008' focused on climate change, renewable energies and the basic 3Rs in Khulna, Shatkhira and Bagerhat districts.

Later on a presentation of 'Different Eco-efficiency Measures' was presented by Alamgir Hossain, Lecturer of North South University. He talked about eco-efficiency in the sense that business entrepreneurs should become more responsible, various eco-efficiency techniques and most appropriately paper consumption in universities. After him a GTZ presentation titled 'Profitable Environmental and Chemical Management' was presented by Dr. Juergen Hannak of GTZ.

Lastly a presentation on 'Green Building Concept and its Initiatives' was given by Omar Faruq, Consultant, Faruq EMP. Faruq discussed as too what businesses could do to save money just by becoming a little more innovative and efficient. He also mentioned that by building more efficiently, corporate houses can reduce their carbon footprint, save a lot of money in the long run and basically save the environment.

Attending this workshop gave me not only an idea about corporate companies in Bangladesh who are doing what it takes to save the environment but also about the future of businesses which lie on working with the environment rather than against it.

(Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), American International University Bangladesh (AIUB)