Govt plans to raise electric vehicle use to 30% by 2030: Quader
The government has a plan to raise the ratio of electric vehicles to at least 30% of total vehicles by 2030 to cut carbon emissions by 3.4 million tonnes in the country's transportation sector as per the pledge made under the Paris Agreement, said Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader.
"Dhaka is one of the most unlivable cities in the world, which is very unfortunate," he said, citing a report of the Economist Intelligence Unit, while addressing as the chief guest at the inaugural session of a two-day workshop on "Accelerating the Transition to Electric Mobility" at a hotel in the capital on Tuesday.
The workshop was organised by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges and the World Bank.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Quader also informed that his ministry introduced the electric vehicle registration policy earlier to achieve the target of CO2 emission cuts, and hoped that the workshop would produce some important decision to accelerate electronic vehicle (EVs) use.
Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri, Power Division Secretary Habibur Rahman, World Bank Operations Manager Dandan Chen, and representatives from the government, public sector and the development partners spoke at the event.
The officials said that the main objectives of the workshop are to create awareness of EV development in the subregion and Bangladesh, enhance the capacity of policy makers, encourage Regional Cooperation Mechanism on Low Carbon Transport, and to facilitate discussions on policy recommendations and for accelerating the transition to electric mobility of public transport in Bangladesh.
Dandan Chen said that Bangladesh must pick its own roadmap for the EV transition, beginning with which segments of e-mobility it wants to focus on.
"We believe that the most significant opportunities lie in the 2/3-wheeler and public transport sectors, as they make economic sense and serve the majority," she added.
