Unido chief stresses adoption of green technology

Bangladesh should adopt more green technology for 'greening industrialisation' to ensure fewer emissions of carbon dioxide and waste, said Kandeh K Yumkella, director general of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido).
Greening industry means any industry that commits itself to reducing the environmental impacts of its processes and products through resource-efficiency.
The Unido chief said the material productivity values in Bangladesh are higher than in some emerging economies, such as China, which could stem from the fact that poverty leads people to usage of the limited resources more efficiently.
“The relatively low GDP of Bangladesh is closely linked to a low material throughput, since a broader process of industrialisation, including the expansion of resource-intensive sectors, has not yet taken root in the country,” Yumkella told a seminar in Dhaka yesterday.
The SME Sector Development Programme under the Ministry of Industries organised the seminar on 'application of green technologies in small and medium enterprises for sustainable industrial development in Bangladesh' at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.
The SMEs contribute Bangladesh's around 90 percent industrialisation.
"If these industries do not go for green technology, we cannot create wealth," Yumkella pointed out.
On resource efficiency, he said material consumption, material productivity and carbon emissions are the three main factors such efficiency.
Referring to a Unido study on 'Resource Use and Resource Efficiency in Asia,' Yumkella said per capita consumption in Bangladesh is very low (only 1.2 tonnes per year in 2005) and is falling due to high population growth.
"This figure is considerably below the human material subsistence level that would be required to fulfill basic human needs."
Industries Minister Dilip Barua pointed to the fact that Bangladesh is one of the victims of global climate change.
"So, adopting green technology could be a protector of natural disaster in Bangladesh," the minister said.