[{"bbox": [96, 152, 1170, 340], "category": "Text", "text": "This AAP follows a Team Europe approach by building on two existing Team Europe Initiatives (Green Energy Transition & Decent Work). It also directly contributes to the European Union's key sector policy priorities as Agenda 2030, the European Consensus for Development and the European Green Deal, hence it directly supports the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Global Gateway for the European external action. Finally it is designed to promote more sustainable brick production as a launching pad for possible future funding through the EFSD+ to allow for scaling-up and encouraging investment in the sector through non-traditional development finance (possible future blended finance, green bonds, etc.)."}, {"bbox": [85, 368, 323, 400], "category": "Section-header", "text": "# 2 RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [85, 433, 235, 460], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.1 Context"}, {"bbox": [96, 478, 1170, 666], "category": "Text", "text": "With an estimated population of 166 million people, Bangladesh ranks as the world's 8th most populous country. Bangladesh, despite being one of the most affected countries by environmental hazards and the consequences of climate change¹, has been among the fastest growing economies in the world over the past decade, mainly due to a demographic dividend, to a strong ready-made garment (RMG) export, to stable macroeconomic conditions and to substantial migrant's remittances (6.7% of GDP²), with a positive impact on human development and poverty and inequality reduction, with a Gini Index of 32.4. The country will graduate from the United Nation's Least Developed Country status in 2026."}, {"bbox": [96, 676, 1170, 811], "category": "Text", "text": "The major risks are at political and governance level: lack of disaggregated data, capacity and knowledge, fragmented democratic process leaving behind the people in the most vulnerable situations, ineffective rule of law, and systemic corruption. Bangladesh has seen important advances in gender equality in recent years, but women are still largely excluded from the formal economy and decision-making spaces³. These conditions also generate inequalities in women's access to and use of energy⁴."}, {"bbox": [96, 822, 1170, 1059], "category": "Text", "text": "While Bangladesh has developed adaptation measures and infrastructures to address the adverse effects of climate change, the mitigation side has not kept pace. With one of the largest populations in the world, the per capita emissions remain small, although the overall emissions are dramatically increasing⁵. Brick kilns are identified as one of the major CO2 emitters in Bangladesh's updated Nationally Determined Contributions (2021)⁶, which foresees as potential contribution a 14% (unconditional) or 47% (conditional) emission reduction through banning fixed chimney kilns, encouragement of advanced production technology, and non-fired brick use (actions by 2030). These priorities are reflected in the (i) brick sector roadmap, and (ii) the long-term brick sector policy, strategy, and action plan (2017) which instructed that by 2025 non-fired bricks (NFB) would amount to 100% in the construction of the government structures/facilities."}, {"bbox": [96, 1072, 1170, 1287], "category": "Text", "text": "Environmental hazards nevertheless remain high in Bangladesh, including floods, cyclones and increased salinity and heat waves, worsened by the consequences of climate change⁷. Displacement due to disasters, climate change and environmental degradation from the coastal areas to the main cities is a reality – with estimations that point to 1.2 million people to be displaced every year due to climate related hazards⁸ – and environmental degradation has put Bangladesh as 162nd out of 180 countries assessed by the Environmental Performance Index⁹, with particularly low score in terms of air quality (179/180)/ According to the World Bank, climate change hits women, poor and vulnerable people the hardest in Bangladesh. Average tropical cyclones cost Bangladesh about $1 billion annually. By 2050, a third of agricultural GDP could be lost and 13 million people could become internal climate migrants."}, {"bbox": [96, 1298, 1170, 1352], "category": "Text", "text": "The 2021-2027 MIP identifies in its second Priority area Green sustainable development, green growth, climate change mitigation and sustainable consumption and production as key to contribute to the country nationally determined"}, {"bbox": [85, 1395, 828, 1418], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹ https://germanwatch.org/sites/default/files/Global%20Climate%20Risk%20Index%202021_1.pdf"}, {"bbox": [85, 1416, 242, 1438], "category": "Footnote", "text": "² World Bank, 2020."}, {"bbox": [85, 1438, 834, 1462], "category": "Footnote", "text": "³ https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/bangladeshs-prosperity-hinges-gender-equality"}, {"bbox": [85, 1461, 1144, 1507], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁴ With a female-to-male HDI ratio of 0.898, the Gender Development Index (GDI) shows low HDI achievements between women and men"}, {"bbox": [85, 1508, 446, 1531], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁵ https://ourworldindata.org/country/bangladesh"}, {"bbox": [85, 1533, 989, 1556], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶ https://www4.unfccc.int/sites/ndcstaging/PublishedDocuments/Bangladesh%20First/Updated_NDC_of_Bangladesh.pdf"}, {"bbox": [85, 1558, 1144, 1604], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁷ The Delegation, within the Local Government Initiative on Climate change programme is carrying out climate attribution studies to elaborate on how much of the natural hazards occurring can be attributed to climate change and global warming."}, {"bbox": [85, 1602, 550, 1625], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁸ https://www.internal-displacement.org/countries/bangladesh"}, {"bbox": [85, 1624, 427, 1646], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁹ https://epi.yale.edu/epi-country-report/BGD"}, {"bbox": [1037, 1682, 1144, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 4 of 30"}]