CLIMATE PARLIAMENT

www.climateparl.net

June 2015

Parliamentary Action on

Combating Climate Change Bangladesh Newsletter

C L I M A T E P A R L I A M E N T : I N T R O D U C T I O N

The Climate Parliament is an International cross-party network of legislators, dedicated to

preventing climate change and promoting renewable energy. We support parliamentarians to

undertake initiatives at national and regional levels to help accelerate the global renewable

switch at the speed and scale required. The Climate Parliament has been supporting MPs in

their work on renewable energy for over five years, and has established a network of legislators

from across Asia, Africa and Europe, all dedicated to effecting the renewables transition.

C L I M A T E P A R L I A M E N T B A N G L A D E S H

In September 2012, Members of Parliament, from different political parties formed a Climate

Parliament Group in their Parliament. They decided to take up various parliamentary actions

headed by TANVIR SHAKIL JOY MP as Convener and JUNAID AHMED PALAK MP as co-convener

to scale up contributions of renewable energy for electricity production and to create an

enabling environment and policy, finance and technology support, to encourage the use of

renewables. It was agreed that a key work effort should center on addressing the non-

implementation of the SREDA BILL which later on was passed in the parliament on December

2012. In 2014 the Climate Parliament committee was reconstituted with NAHIM RAZZAQ MP as

Convener along with MAHJABEEN MORSHED MP as Co-convener along with some the young

and dynamic MPs as member of the committee.

Issues raised by Climate Parliament MPs:

Immediate formulation and budgetary allocation of SREDA: The immediate implementation of the SREDA Act and SREDA to be established formally. Sufficient Annual budget for empowering SREDA is a must.

Proper Administrative, infrastructural and logistical support to SREDA: SREDA will co-ordinate between different Government Agencies and regulators. The authority will be the face of Bangladesh in the global renewable energy domain. Therefore, strong logistical, managerial and infrastructural support should be provided to SREDA.

Formulation of Renewable Energy Fund: Large scale Renewable energy development can be capital intensive. To ensure a sustainable flow of funds into the sector, establishment of a Fund can assure long term growth.

Revision of the Renewable Energy Policy of Bangladesh:

With the new developments of renewable energy

technologies globally and new energy imperatives of the

country, it is necessary for reviewing the 7 year old policy

on renewable energy.

Increase private sector participation: To bring down the

costs of renewable energy and to achieve scale, private

sector participation in the sector needs to be boosted

through policy measures.

Key Successes:

In Bangladesh, Climate Parliament group of MPs have

played a major role in the passage of the Sustainable and

Renewable Energy Development Agency (SREDA) Act in

2012.After repeated meetings between MPs,

Government officials and Minister, Climate Parliament

group of MPs achieved a milestone in their efforts to

create a SPECIAL RENEWABLE ENERGY FUND in the

Country of Taka TK 400 crore from the national budget

2014-15 and implementation of SREDA was finally

realised.

Bangladesh Steering Committee

Advisors:

Mr. Tanvir Shakeel Joy

Mr. Saber Chowdhury MP

Patrons:

Mr. Junaid Ahmed Palak MP

Mr. Abdullah Al-Islam Jacob MP

Convener:

Mr. Nahim Razzaq MP

Co-convenor:

Ms. Mahjabeen Moshad MP

Members:

Mr. Razee Md. Fakhrul MP

Mr. Pir Fazlur Rahman MP

Mr. Golam Faruk Prince MP

Mr. AKM Ahasanul Chowdhury MP

Mr. Tarana Halim MP

Ms. Mahjabeen Khaled MP

Ms. Waseqa Ayesha Khan MP

GLIMPSES OF PARLIAMENTARIANS AT WORK IN BANGLADESH

4th July 2013: Roundtable discussion on SREDA Act

It took more than a year of various parliamentary actions–meetings with the Power Minister,

Memorandums to the Finance Minister, Memorandum and interventions in the Parliamentary

Standing Committee on Energy, Round-Table discussions with government officials, experts and

MPs – which have finally now ensured the actual establishment of SREDA and separate

Renewable Energy Fund in the country.

Climate Parliament Initiatives for implementation of Renewable Energy Fund and SREDA:

Climate Parliament Bangladesh carried out a strong campaign for adequate budgetary

allocation for SREDA and establishment of the Renewable Energy Fund before the budget of

2014-15. The campaign proved successful when Budget of 2014-15 announced, "To produce

800 MW of electricity by 2015 using renewable energy, a Special Fund under the name

“RENEWABLE ENERGY FUND” has been kept in the budget to finance renewable energy based

power plants or projects. The size of the fund allocation was at TK 400 crore with this year's

allocation.

12th September 2012: First meeting of Bangladeshi MPs

Oct, 2013: Bangladesh Steering Committee Meeting

In September 2014, Climate

Parliament Bangladesh organized a

Round table meeting on ‘Renewable

Energy Fund: Planning the Roadmap’

at Bidyut Bhaban, Ministry of Power,

Energy and Mineral Resources. This

meeting was organized to access the

progress and discuss the ways and

means to successfully establish the

Fund and how this fund can be made

effective to accelerate renewable

energy in Bangladesh.

In March 2015, in the pre-budget

meeting with the Bangladesh State

Minister of Power, Energy and

Mineral Resources, the Climate

Parliament Bangladesh group of MPs

also submitted a Memorandum to

the Minister. The Memorandum asks

the government to announce the

establishment of SREDA and

requisite budget allocation after

accounting for adequate

administrative, infrastructural and

logistical support. It asks for the

establishment of a Clean Energy

Fund; announcement of incentives

for domestic RE manufacturers and

suppliers.

In May 2015, Climate Parliament

Bangladesh met the Ministry of

Finance officials and SREDA officials

to initiate a dialogue on transfer

and utilization of renewable energy

fund to SREDA. It was also

requested to continue with the

Renewable Energy Fund in the next

financial year for enabling the

implementation of the planned

projects.

Coordinating meetings with the Hon. State Minister

of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Nasrul

Hamid MP

Bangladesh Renewable Energy Roadmap – Climate Parliament Initiative

Climate Parliament Bangladesh MPs initiated a study to formulate the Renewable Energy

Roadmap of Bangladesh with the help of an international expert Dr. Rudolf Reichsteiner. Mr.

Rudolf Rechsteiner, an international renewable energy expert and a five-time MP in

Switzerland, is one of the leading co-authors of the Swiss Electric Power Act in 2008 and of the

Renewable Energy Law in Switzerland. In a study visit to Dhaka, Mr.Rechsteiner carried out a a

series of consultations and meetings with Ministers, MPs, government officials, financial

institutions, experts, international organizations, private sector, organized recently by Climate

Parliament from 3rd to 7th May 2015.

Policy Maker’s Roundtable Meeting (SREDA, POWER CELL and Finance Ministry). 4th May 2015, SREDA office, Bidyut Bhaban. Senior Government officials from SREDA, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Finance along with Climate Parliament MPs and staff came together for this meeting. After a presentation by SREDA and subsequently by Mr. Rudolf Rechsteiner and Climate Parliament staff, deliberations on the policy approach, implementation issues and financing challenges were carried out. The meeting was also successful in increasing the co-ordination between Ministry of Finance and SREDA officials. Both the parties agreed to meet and discuss the future course of action for continuation and enhancement of the Renewable Energy Fund in Bangladesh.

Renewable Energy Stakeholder consultations

held in Dhaka on the 3rd May 2015

Stakeholder Roundtable on Renewable Energy Roadmaps, 3rd May 2015. Attended by 15 senior officials from the several leading organizations in renewable energy like Rahimafrooz, Prokaushali Sangsad Ltd, Dhaka University, BUET, Bangladesh Renewable EnergyAssociation, Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB), Schneider Electric, Clean Energy Alternatives etc. The intense discussions of two hours yielded some key policy gaps across the valuechain of Bangladesh’s renewable energy sector. The discussions were divided into three segments ofOff- grid and mini-grid segment, Medium and commercial plants segment and lastly, large scale gridconnected power generation system.

Coordination meeting with SREDA, POWER CELL and Ministry of Finance (Budget Division)

Ministerial meetings with Mr. Nasrul Hamid and Mr. Junaid Ahmed Palak, 4th May 2015:

Individual meetings with the State Minister of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Mr. Nasrul Hamid and Minister of State, ICT Mr. Junaid Ahmed Palak were carried out to get a sense of the broader pictureand policy directions being considered at present. Hon. Junaid Ahmed Palak is also the Patron of theClimate Parliament network in Bangladesh. Public Consultation on Introduction of Feed-in-Tariffs organized by Dhaka University, May 2015: Public Consultation on Introduction of Feed-in-Tariffs the Climate Parliament Team, along with Mr. Rudolf Rechsteiner, also participated in an open discussion on FiT regulation organized by the University of Dhaka. The event gave further insight into the opinion of all major stakeholders on the introduction of a new revenue model for large scale renewable energyprojects in Bangladesh. Individual meetings, 5-7 May 2015: Several individual meetings were held with, renewable energy entrepreneurs, financing organizations like IDCOL and multilateral development organizations like UNDP, SDC, GIZ, etc.

Climate Parliament team with Ms. Farzana Rahman, Unit Head (Investment), Renewable Energy, IDCOL

Category Achievement

Solar Home System (3.4 m SHS) 145 MW

Other Solar PV Applications 1 MW

Roof-top Solar PV Systems 10 MW

Solar Irrigation ( 128 systems) 5 MW

Wind Energy 2 MW

Biomass based electricity 1 MW

Biogas based electricity 5MW

Total 169MW

Hydro Power 230 MW

Total 399 MW

• Almost 3.4 million SHSs installed; over 70,000/month • 35,000 biogas digesters built • 69 solar irrigation and 135 solar drinking water pumps in operation, 191 approved, 236 is

in process of approval, total 1,500 targeted • 5 million cooking stoves targeted by 2017

Solar Home System depiction

Major Achievements in Rural Energy Supply

Source: Power Cell, 2014.

At the initiative of Climate Parliament MPs from Bangladesh, Climate Parliament Group of MPs came out with a ‘South Asian MPs declaration, Colombo, 17 November 2012’, for the development of a regional grid in South Asia – a transmission network that could link wind, solar, hydro and other renewable energy sources, and create a mechanism for energy trading between the regional neighbours to promote reliable and sustainable energy for all.

C L I M A T E P A R L I A M E N T I N T E R N A T I O N A L :

Climate Parliament organises international meetings, hearings and forums for parliamentarians from around the world. The purpose of these events is to promote global initiatives to push for transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Climate Parliament has an active set of members in Bangladesh, India, Tunisia, China, Jordan, Morocco, Congo, Lebanon, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania. Glimpses of Climate Parliament Bangladesh MPs participating in national, regional and international meetings on renewable energy:

Bangladesh MPs attending Parliamentary Hearing at Wadduwa, Sri Lanka, 16-18 Nov, ‘12

Bangladesh MPs sign Statement at El Jadida, Morocco, 4-6 Oct, 2013;

“Attracting Investment in Reneawable Energy”

Attending International Parliamentary FORUM, PREVENTING A CLIMATE CRISIS

Shanghai, China, 11-12 July, 2014

Bangladesh MPs attending Parliamentary Action on Renewable Energy – Learning from

Success, Dead Sea, 7-8 Nov, 2014

International Energy & Climate Forum, Lucerne, Switzerland, June 12-14, 2015

Morocco: A commitment from the Energy Minister was secured for looking into setting up a dedicated national regulatory agency for renewable electricity and to work collaboratively with the cross-party group during 2014 on this issue. There was a reduction in VAT charged on imports of solar panels and renewable energy equipment from 20% to 13%. Another achievement was a reduction in the fossil fuels subsidy and the cross party group of MPs also succeeded in securing increased financing for applied research projects in renewable energy. Tunisia: The passing in January 2014 of the amendment to the new constitution proposed by the Climate Parliament cross-party group of MPs must stand as one of the most impressive achievements. Tunisia has become the first country outside of Latin America to make a constitutional commitment to combating climate change. A second major achievement in Tunisia has been the passing in Parliament of a Renewable Energy bill. Senegal: Renewable Energy Law was passed in 2012, which foresees raising awareness of all of the Senegalese population, as well as setting targets for renewable energy use in households, including targets related to energy provision for women and for public lighting.

Jordan: Aggressive strategy has been undertaken by the MPs from the Jordanian Parliament to utilise their desert as the next source of energy and reduce the dependency of import of fossil fuel from their neighbouring countries.

Although making the transition to renewable energy will not be easy, parliamentarians are in a unique position to take action. All that is required is understanding, personal commitment, and political will.

The Doha Forum also saw the launch of a new joint initiative for 2013: the Renewable Tigers project. Organised by UNDP and Climate Parliament, the initiative will focus on how developing nations can work together to harness the potential of renewable energy to drive development while simultaneously reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change. The underlying idea of the Renewable Tigers strategy is simple: that a group of ten countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia could work together to turn clean energy into an engine of economic growth. These ten countries are Bangladesh, Congo Brazzaville, India, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania and Tunisia. We believe these countries have the potential to become “Renewable Tigers”, doing in renewable energy what the Asian Tigers did in manufacturing industries and socio-economic development.

The rich resources of sun, biomass, wind and hydro available in these ten countries can be harnessed to drive forward development. Energy generated from the abundant sunshine and wind of the developing world could power towns and cities, drive village-level renewable mini-grids for those in energy-starved rural areas, or even be exported to neighbouring countries via cross-border interconnectors. Investment in renewables would thus help to drive growth, create jobs, and grow new industries. By working together, the ten nations can share best practices; encourage regional energy integration; develop renewable manufacturing, research and development; and gain collective bargaining power.

The Renewable Tigers

Some of the Events Publication by CLIMATE PARLIAMENT: www.climateparl.net