Pedalling power: How rickshaw pullers are reducing Bangladesh's carbon footprint
Bangladesh's rickshaw pullers play a surprisingly vital role in reducing carbon emissions and combating climate change through their human-powered transportation services
Bangladesh is currently experiencing severe heat waves. The average temperature is soaring to 40 to 42 degrees Celsius in different parts of the country. This is one of the hottest months in the last 70 years. The unprecedented heatwaves in Bangladesh and many other parts of the world are mostly due to the increased concentration of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere.
Despite its limited contribution to GHG emissions, Bangladesh is one of the countries most affected by climate change and associated extreme events, such as heat waves. The current heat waves have affected a large population in the country and their health, resulting in a loss of productivity in agriculture and food production, livestock, and poultry.
According to the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Centre (Arsht-Rock), heatwaves in Bangladesh cause the loss of 20% of outdoor working hours each year, costing the economy up to $6 billion annually.
Although heat waves have affected the entire nation, the poor and working class, especially rickshaw pullers, construction workers, agricultural workers, and street vendors, are disproportionately affected. Given their livelihoods, they have limited options to avoid this exposure, so they have to bear the disproportionate burden of the heat waves, which have devastating physical, social, and financial effects.
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Pedal rickshaws are manually operated, three-wheeled vehicles that play a significant role in urban transportation, particularly in cities like Dhaka. It is estimated that 10% of the residents here use private vehicles for commuting, 25% use public buses, and 60% use rickshaws. In many countries, pedal rickshaws are banned due to their inhumane drudgery.
However, in Bangladesh, they are still an integral part of the transportation system, serving as a lifeline for short-distance travel within cities, especially where motorised public transport cannot easily navigate through the narrow streets.
Through their manual services, the rickshaw pullers save greenhouse gas emissions, contribute significantly to reducing air pollution and climate mitigation, and provide an interesting case of how poor people contribute to addressing one of the world's most pressing problems. Instead of contributing to GHG emissions, they are helping others shuttle around with no carbon emissions.
Dhaka is rapidly growing, and so is the demand for local transportation. The transportation system in Dhaka has failed to cope with the increasing demand, as development in the public transport system is slower than the growth of the number of private vehicles.
According to the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, from 2010 to 2023, there has been an increase in the number of private cars by over three times, motorcycles about five times, buses just two times, and no significant increase in mini-buses.
The rapid growth of private transport has led to serious traffic congestion, with 76% of Dhaka roads occupied by just 6% of the population owning private cars. Most private cars can only accommodate three passengers and a driver. The speed of motorised vehicles in Dhaka has been reduced to 10 to 12 kilometres per hour, just over walking speed, making non-motorised transport like the rickshaw crucial in the city's transport system.
The rapid increase in private motorised vehicles has significantly increased fuel demand in the transportation sector, as well as noise and heat in Dhaka. Bangladesh's total energy consumption in the fiscal year 2019–20 was 42.0 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent. The transportation sector accounted for 4.3 million of this total, with 80% coming from petroleum products and the remaining 20% from natural gas, primarily CNG.
Vehicular emissions are one of the most significant contributors to air pollution and GHG. Emissions from vehicles are determined by a variety of factors, including the type of vehicle, engine, and fuel, as well as the condition of the vehicle, road, traffic, and speed.
For instance, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from a gallon of gasoline burned are 8,887 grammes (g), and those from a gallon of diesel burned are 10,180 g. According to a UK government study, the carbon footprint of a passenger per kilometre by various modes of transportation is as follows: diesel car 171g, petrol car 170g, motorcycle 148g, bus (London local) 79g, and London Underground 28g.
Although the carbon footprint of a passenger in motorised vehicles in Bangladesh is unknown, it can be assumed that it will be much higher than that of UK passengers in motorised vehicles. Simply because in Bangladesh, the conditions of both the vehicle and road are not as good as those in the UK.
It was found that, in Bangladesh, a large number of vehicles failed to satisfy the government emission standards. As per the Department of Environment, only 22% of motorcycles and 23% of diesel vehicles satisfy the government standard.
For the sake of rough estimation, we have taken the UK passenger carbon footprint as a basis for estimating the carbon mitigation services provided by the pedal rickshaw pullers in Bangladesh.
It is estimated that Bangladesh has around 2.5 million pedal rickshaws. In Dhaka alone, there are 500,000 to 600,000 pedal rickshaw pullers. According to a study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in 2017 in Dhaka city, the rickshaw pullers worked an average of 11.56 hours a day, made 23 passenger trips per day with an average trip length of 1.8 km, and travelled an average distance of 44.9 km.
If we use the per capita emission of a local bus in London, which is 79g, a rickshaw puller in Dhaka city saves 3,547 grammes of carbon per day while transporting an average of 30 passengers by pedalling. Every day, Dhaka's 500,000 rickshaw pullers save 1,773 MT of carbon. Now, let us calculate the price of the carbon savings, which varies by country, as achieved by the rickshaw pullers.
The price of one metric tonne of carbon in Switzerland is $131, while in Sweden it is $126. Using the EU prices as a base, the price of carbon savings by the rickshaw pullers in Dhaka city comes to $223,398 per day, which is equivalent to Tk2 crore 45 lakh per day.
If we consider all of Bangladesh's rickshaw pullers, the carbon-saving benefits will be 70,942 MT per day. In monetary terms, the carbon-saving benefits are equivalent to about $9 million per day, which is equivalent to Bangladeshi Tk9 crore 83 lakh.
Pedal rickshaws play a crucial role in Bangladesh's transportation system, offering a carbon-free and environment-friendly option that benefits society, the economy and the environment. Rickshaw pullers also help combat climate change by reducing reliance on motorised vehicles and their associated GHG emissions. However, their environmental services often go unnoticed and unrecognised.
As our analysis shows, rickshaw pullers significantly contribute to reducing the carbon footprint in the transportation sector, thus benefiting society, the country, and the planet as a whole.
Besides carbon reduction, pedal rickshaw pullers also provide other benefits, such as reduced noise pollution and reduced road heating. Their contribution deserves recognition and compensation.
The government should support them with health insurance and medical facilities and improve their working conditions. The government should also compensate them for their environmental services by imposing a carbon tax on private vehicle owners who contribute to environmental pollution.
Dr Golam Rasul is a Professor in the Department of Economics at the International University of Business Agriculture and Technology (IUBAT), Dhaka, Bangladesh
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.
