Oxfam’s inter-university renewable energy debate competition begins
Business Report :
The two-daylong ‘2nd National Renewable Energy Debate Competition’ organized by Oxfam in Bangladesh begins on Saturday at Presidency University in Dhaka urging carbon emission reduction by the Ready-Made garment (RMG) sector, ensure workers’ rights and equality and fossil-fuel phase out to keep the global temperature below 1.5 degrees. 24 universities around the country are participating in this ongoing debate competition.
Former governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed participated on the opening day as chief guest of the inaugural session and Vice-Chancellor of Presidency University Prof. Dr. Abdul Mannan Chowdhury of Presidency University was present as special guest.
Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said, ‘We need to increase our reliance on renewable energy to save our environment. Policymakers talk a lot about it, but mostly corporate-oriented. They will work accordingly. We have lots of action plans to reduce carbon emissions and increase the use of renewable energy, but a few of implementations. We are talking about saving the environment, parallelly we are again cutting the trees of Sundarbans, destroying the balance of the environment by damming at Bandarban. So, the youth need to come forward. They must work on these issues. Otherwise, it won’t be easy to take Bangladesh forward.
Dr. Mohammad Imran Hasan head of the Climate Justice and Natural Rights department of Oxfam in Bangladesh presented the keynote, where he focused on carbon emissions by RMG sectors, workers’ job security and equality, fossil-fuel phase-out, etc.
The keynote showed thatthe average Fashion Sales Assistant job pay in the USA per hour is USD11.58 or USD 4000 per month, while the average salary of a RMG worker is USD 100 per month. If brands absorbed the cost of paying living wages within their supply chains, it would cost them less than 1% of the price of a garment.
Also, the world’s richest 10% of people produce 50% of the world’s emissions, and the wealthiest 1% produce twice as many emissions as the poorest 50%, linked to egregious, excessive luxury consumption. In contrast, the entire continent of Africa produces less than 4% of global emissions. It also showed, we are at 1.2 degrees Celsius of global warming and experiencing disastrous consequences of the climate crisis everywhere on the planet. According to the UNEP 2021 reports, experts warn that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be halved by 2030 and reach zero by 2050 to keep global warming below 1.5°C and go net negative after that to prevent an irreversible climate emergency.
Participating universities in this debate competition are Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Eastern University, Begum Bodrunnesha Govt Girls College, Dhaka, International Islamic University Chittagong, Manarat International University, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh University of Textiles, Bangladesh Agricultural University, University of Dhaka, North South University, East West University, Shahjalal University of Science & Technology, Premier University, Jahangirnagar University, Southeast University, Presidency University, Govt. Titumir College Dhaka, Govt. Titumir College Dhaka, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Comilla University, Uttara University, Pabna University of Science and Technology American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB), Tejgaon Collage Dhaka and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University, Bangladesh.
