Bangladesh Writing Off 4%+ Of GDP To Environmental Degradation, Toxic Pollution - Daily Star

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Environmental damage accounts for economic losses equivalent to more than 4 percent of Bangladesh's GDP, says a World Bank (WB) report. The report titled 'Bangladesh Country Environment Analysis' also estimates that environmental factors cause as much as 22 percent of deaths and diseases that cost high in terms of the nation's health.

Launched at a city hotel yesterday, the report was jointly prepared by the Ministry of Environment and Forest and WB. It also said that the largest share of the economic losses is attributed to a lack of basic infrastructure services, such as water, sanitation and energy.

The report identified three sources of environmental degradation that need priority attention, which are indoor and urban air pollution, degradation of water quality in Dhaka and over-fishing. Bangladesh's achievement of steady economic growth of more than 5 percent over the last decade has been key to reducing poverty, but at the same time it created many environmental challenges, particularly in the urban and industrialised areas, it noted.

"The challenge, therefore, is to identify policies and interventions that foster economic growth without damaging the environment and people's lives," the country environment analysis suggested. Linking air pollution to health, the WB Senior Environment Specialist Paul Jonathan Martin in the presentation said the respiratory infections and diseases caused by poor air quality, both indoor and urban, contribute up to 10 percent of the nation's total burden of diseases.

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http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/03/12/d7031201128.htm