Building developers, who wish to go green by planting trees and harvesting rainwater, will receive a 10 per cent tax rebate, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Atiqul Islam has said.
He made the announcement at a webinar styled ‘BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming Cities’ Relationship with Nature’, organised by the Society of Experts on Environment Development (SEED) on Thursday, said a press release.
The webinar was based on a recent publication of the Global Commission on BiodiverCities, jointly led by the World Economic Forum and the Alexander von Humboldt Biological Resources Research Institute and championed by the Government of Colombia.
The report calls on cities, one of the crucial players in reversing nature loss and climate change, to become BiodiverCities by 2030.
Md Abul Kalam Azad, Special Envoy of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), also a reputed Commissioners of the Global Commission on BiodiverCities and a contributor of the report, delivered his keynote paper at the event, initiated by Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, SEED’s chief Advisor and director of PKSF.
Mr Azad's presentation summarised the journey of the report from early 2021 and disclosed its key findings.
Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, Mayor Atiqul expressed his gratitude to the SEED for arranging an awareness-building webinar, which, he said, is a crucial stepping stone on the way to achieving a nature-positive urban landscape.
He presented the idea of collaborating with SEED to develop the Climate Action City Plan for discussing best practices and finding means to integrate the BiodiverCities’ vision into Dhaka’s urban landscape.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Runa Khan, executive director of Friendship, and Dr Haseeb Irfanullah, independent consultant of the Environment, Climate Change and Research System, participated in the webinar.
Dr Nazmus Sadath, a professor of Khulna University, moderated the Q&A session at the end of the webinar, the release added.
