Interview: Pursuing green development brings economic dividends, says Bangladeshi analyst

Pursuing green development would not only help preserve nature, but also bring economic dividends, a leading Bangladeshi foreign affairs analyst has said.

Munshi Faiz Ahmad, former chairman of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies, told Xinhua in a recent interview that the economic dividends would come in "ensuring sustainability of development and economy, attracting large-scale new investment, and generating considerable new employment opportunities."

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for accelerating efforts to foster a green way of development and securing a win-win of economic growth and environmental protection.

Addressing the leaders' summit of the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity via video link in Beijing, Xi called a sound ecology and environment "not just a natural asset, but also an economic asset."

Xi urged efforts to ensure harmonious coexistence between man and Nature.

"President Xi's optimism gives us all a real cause for hope," said Ahmad, also a former Bangladeshi ambassador to China.

He said that China is taking a leading role in pursuing green development and using renewable energy to gradually replace fossil fuel.

China's commitment to achieve peak carbon emissions by 2030 and reaching carbon neutral status by 2060 is definitely a major step in the right direction, said the analyst.

"China has also extended her hand of cooperation to many relatively less developed countries to obtain the necessary technology and funds, helping them make their contribution towards protection of the environment and sustainable development," he added.