Laurels for climate heroes
HSBC Bangladesh and The Daily Star yesterday honoured four organisations and one individual as climate champions 2013 for their efforts to go green and protect the planet.
Chittagong Waste Treatment Plants won the award as the champion in the green business category in the fourth edition of the prestigious HSBC–The Daily Star Climate Awards yesterday. It received the accolade for its role in reducing the environmental impact of industrial wastes through its waste treatment services.
Hatil Complex, a leading furniture maker, has been honoured as the champion in green operations with 100 percent Bangladeshi ownership for its success in meeting global environmental benchmarks and using eco-friendly materials for making its products.
The award for the champion in green operation with companies with full or partial foreign ownership went to Cosmopolitan Industries, owned by Hong Kong-based Epic Group, for its environment-friendly business.
Farmer rights activist Shykh Seraj was handed the award in knowledge management category for documenting how climate change is affecting lives in the coastal areas in southern Bangladesh.
The Rural Unfortunate Safety Talisman Illumination Cottage (RUSTIC) got the award in the community engagement category for converting household waste into compost fertiliser and raising awareness about the benefits of using organic fertiliser.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman, who was joined on the podium by Andrew Tilke, chief executive of HSBC Bangladesh, and Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, handed the awards to the winners at a colourful ceremony at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka.
“This initiative for champions of positive change benefit both by inspiring and energising the change leaders themselves and by enthusing and drawing the rest of us into the change efforts in our own respective institutional and individual capacities,” Atiur said.
Chittagong Waste Treatment Plants, located inside the Chittagong Export Processing Zone, is playing an important role in minimising the environmental impact of the surrounding industries and thus helping the Chittagong EPZ maintain a sustainable operating environment through its industrial waste management services.
Currently, the plant is managing waste treatment for more than 200 factories in the EPZ.
Hatil sources wood from well-managed forests certified by the US-based Forest Stewardship Council. It has implemented sustainable business operations like recycling and using environment-friendly materials, and developed designs that significantly reduce the material requirement in its furniture.
With talented human resources and state-of-the-art manufacturing plant, Cosmopolitan Industries is reaching out to millions of customers globally with Bangladesh-made products.
Their business excellence is matched with their extensive focus on environmental considerations. Cosmopolitan is the first LEED certified green factory in Bangladesh and has received a number of industry leading compliance and environmental certifications.
The company has installed world-class effluent and water treatment facilities and other environment-friendly operation models.
The passionate team of Hridoye Mati O Manush led by Shykh Sheraj used Koyra, an upazila affected by cyclone Aila, to make a documentary to capture the aftermath of the natural disaster.
His works provided insights on how the threats of climate change are inflicting permanent damages on human lives, their livelihoods and environment.
With an ingenious idea of converting household waste into compost fertiliser, RUSTIC is building a better community to live in and raising awareness about the benefits of using organic fertiliser.
The organisation collects household waste from more than 10,000 families for making organic fertiliser. As a result, the residents of Khulna city are living in cleaner and healthier neighbourhoods and local farmers are getting an opportunity to improve the fertility of their cultivable lands.
Through the project, RUSTIC is raising awareness of the importance of natural conservation in the community.
Dalil Uddin Ahmed, chairman of Chittagong Waste Treatment Plants, Selim H Rahman, chairman and managing director of Hatil Complex, Prem Soni, finance director of Cosmopolitan Industries and Moral Noor Mohammad, executive director of RUSTIC, and Shykh Seraj himself received the trophies.
The event started with a musical performance by Rafa and Johad singing What a Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong as business leaders, diplomats, government officials, civil society members, academics and media and cultural personalities got together in the spring evening to celebrate this year's climate champions.
Dalil Uddin Ahmed, chairman of Chittagong Waste Treatment Plants, became emotional while giving his immediate reaction. In bleary eyes he said he was honoured to have won the laurels. “This will encourage me to achieve more.”
Shykh Seraj said the award had brought honour not only to him but also to the rural people, including the farmers, he had been working for for decades.
He said environment-friendly technologies were available and had to be given to farmers as quickly as possible so they could use them.
Speaking as chief guest, the BB governor heaped praises upon HSBC and The Daily Star for initiating and continuing with the endeavour.
He also urged the financial sector to give priority to sectors with higher potential to reduce climate impact, like carbon absorbing agriculture and plantation, low carbon waterway and railway mass transit, solar and wind power.
Atiur Rahman also said the environment was being harmed due to unbridled greed. "The financial sector can play a pioneering role to improve the environment."
Andrew Tilke said, “Sustainability is at the heart of HSBC's operations and aligning with our commitment to environment. We are glad to recognise the organisations and individuals for their commendable efforts in building a greener and sustainable future.”
He said the global warming would not go away and everybody had to play a part in tackling the problem that would immensely affect Bangladesh.
Mahfuz Anam said Bangladesh could not continue to strive for development through traditional approach. “We have to think differently and have to incorporate nature in our development. Otherwise, we will not be able to tackle the mounting challenge we are going to face.”
He said the time to protect the environment through lip service had gone. “We also have to change our lifestyle that is not friendly to the environment. Otherwise, our quest for development will remain elusive and become self-defeating.”
The evening ended with the audience being treated to an entertaining dance piece performed by local dance group Shompriti.
The Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Ltd (HSBC) and The Daily Star launched the initiative, the foremost award in the country in the area of environment, in 2010 to recognise organisations and individuals actively working towards preserving environment and managing the risk of climate change through their business practices, socially-driven initiatives or valuable knowledge sharing practices.
HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world, and has become the first major bank to go carbon neutral, achieving this goal for its global operations nearly a decade ago by managing and reducing direct emissions, buying green electricity where feasible and offsetting the remaining emissions.
The bank also sponsors climate research and encourages its customers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Since its inception more than two decades ago, The Daily Star has relentlessly been campaigning against environment polluters, river and water bodies' grabbers and forest destroyers.
Waste Concern is the knowledge partner for the awards.
Comments