22-09-2021

WEDNESDAY, SEpTEmBER 22, 2021
4
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Wednesday, September 22, 2021
Master plan to save
rivers near Dhaka
The river Buriganga was once a very
important positive part of the
environment of Dhaka city. It was a
clean flowing river that added an aesthetic
appeal to the residents of the city.
The famous nawabs of Dhaka had built up
their magnificent living quarters on its
banks. One of them, the Ahsan Manjil, still
stands and now serves as a museum to
remind people of the glorious days of the
past of the city. But the Buriganga at present
is in a threatened state of existence.
The river has been progressively dying from
polluting factors and from encroachments. All
kinds of excreta are now thrown in huge
quantities in it regularly. The same have turned
its waters largely unusable in sections in and
around the city. The rivers is also suffering very
seriously from encroachment.
Its natural flows have been impeded by
landfilling of its beds and setting up of all
kinds of unauthorised structures on such
encroached lands. The encroachments have
meant narrowing of the river and its canal
like appearances in many places as it flows
past the city. The way the encroachments
have grown, allowing this process for some
more time would very likely mean blocking
off its flow completely some years from now.
The same kind of encroachments and
pollution are also posing similar environmental
threats to other rivers near Dhaka namely
the Turag and The Balu. Thus, not only the
Buriganga needs to be regenerated and
saved from environmental decline and
pollution. All the rivers flowing through or
past the capital city need to be safeguarded
to get back their health and vitality.
Clearly, there is a point in saving the
Buriganga from the encroachers. One
encouraging aspect has been that the
present government took some major
initiatives to reverse this process of
encroachments in the river. But such drives,
unfortunately, have not been sustained all
the way with the result that encroachers
have had a chance to make a comeback.
Thus, only on and off eviction moves will
not serve any purpose if it is not followed up
by concrete plans to prevent reoccupation by
the encroachers.
Probably a well paved circular road all the
way along the banks, plus planting of trees
and creation of river sides natural parks can
be attempted by the government to consolidate
the encroachment-free conditions after an
eviction drive. More significant would be
completing all legal arrangements and the
setting up of all sorts of checks and physical
barriers so that the encroachers find no
opportunity for reoccupying these places
after this government leaves office. In sum,
the evicted conditions should be made a
permanent feature for their salubrious effect
on the environment of the city.
This paper reported on Sunday that
government has adopted a 20-years long
master plan to revive the rivers near Dhaka.
Needless to say, the master plan and its
adoption is timely.
But we like to suggest that let it be pushed
to completion with the same kind of
enthusiasm that the government is noted for
taking in relation to some mega projects
involving Dhaka city like the metro rail. If
the river restoration plan is pushed through
with similar speed not only major
transportation and travel problems of the
city's people will be solved on a lasting basis,
the environment of the city will also get a big
and positive uplift simultaneously.
EU carbon border tax could trigger trade war
With the COP26 climate change
summit due to open in Glasgow
in barely a few weeks,
negotiations are heating up as countries
try to establish their own red lines and
boundaries over what is acceptable in
terms of climate emissions norms and
practices. One of the hottest topics at
COP26, and long after the two-week
forum has ended, will be the EU's carbon
border tax, a highly controversial levy
included in the EU Green Deal announced
in July 2021. This aims to cut carbon
emissions by 55 percent by 2030
compared to 1990 levels and for the entire
community to become carbon neutral by
2050. An integral part of the Green Deal is
the carbon border adjustment mechanism
- a carbon tax in layman's terms. The EU
plans to impose this on all imports of
goods as well as services in order to ensure
a level playing field for its own industry,
which Brussels says will be unfairly
penalized by tighter environmental and
emissions standards.
EU leaders have justified the tax, which
also will be applied on foreign airlines
arriving into the bloc, as a
countermeasure to balance out poorer
environmental norms in other nations.
However, the tax has already brought loud
protests by almost every non-EU nation,
notably developing countries, which say
that Brussels is simply erecting another
barrier to trade and providing unfair
assistance to its own businesses.
The EU is trying to justify the carbon tax
by saying that its measures to protect the
environment are among the most
advanced in the world and that its
companies have to adhere to severe
emission norms, which impose a high cost
on production due to conditions such as
use of recycled materials, energy efficiency
and higher taxes on polluting materials. It
goes on to say that producers in other
countries have a significant and undue
advantage in terms of cost of
manufacturing due to more lax norms for
environment protection and lower or zero
taxes on pollution. There is no doubt that
the EU is trying to cut its emissions
significantly from 1990 levels, while many
developed nations have made only token
commitments and, at times, failed to meet
even these goals. Data from the European
Commission shows that EU greenhouse
gas emissions in 1990 stood at 5,669
million tons. These have fallen by over 24
percent in the past 30 years and EU's total
emissions now stand at 4,067 million
tons, a significant achievement for any
major emitter in this time frame. Before
RANVIR S. NAYAR
JUNAID WAHEDNA
the EU applies any carbon tax on
developing nations it ought to take a look
in the mirror.
The EU has set a target of 55 percent
reduction from 1990 levels by 2030,
which means that total emissions will
stand at 2,551 million tons - an average
drop of 151 million tons every year from
now till the target date.
Indeed, compared with other developed
regions, the EU has achieved an
outstanding drop in the past 30 years. In
2019, emissions by the US, the biggest
historical polluter, totaled 6,558 million
tons, an increase on the 1990 figure of
about 6,442 million tons. Neighboring
Canada saw a 21 percent rise from 1990
levels and its total greenhouse gas
emissions in 2020 stood at 729 million
tons, up from 603 million tons.
The EU could perhaps justify its carbon
tax on imports using these and a few other
rich countries as examples of how the rest
of the world has failed to make any effort
to reduce emissions and, in fact, has
allowed industry to pollute even more
It's expensive to be poor
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic,
rising income inequality was one of
the key challenges facing
economies around the world. In 2018,
Oxfam's report "An Economy for the
99%" revealed that Vietnam's richest man
earned more in one day than the poorest
person earned in a decade. It was just one
of many astonishing claims, and the
report reflects a broader trend across Asia
- which despite seeing record growth over
the past 20 years, has struggled to
distribute new wealth evenly.
Collectively, the six largest economies of
Southeast Asia - Indonesia, Thailand, the
Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and
Malaysia, also known as the ASEAN-6 -
have a GDP of close to US$3 trillion,
which was growing by 5-6% each year
until 2020, when the pandemic swept
through the globe and stopped economic
growth in its tracks.
But while the region has a population of
670 million and has experienced
economic growth consistently above
historical global averages, half the
population remains unbanked - with no
access to financial products - and a further
fifth (18%) are underbanked, lacking
access to anything other than a bank
account, according to research by Fitch
Ratings in 2020. And income disparity
has been a persistent problem in recent
years for Indonesia, which has the sixthworst
inequality in the world, according to
Oxfam. Indonesia's four richest men have
more wealth than 100 million of the
country's poorest people.
While progressive taxation is associated
with lower income inequality, research by
the ADB Institute shows that in some
Asian countries such as the Philippines,
poor administration has significantly
constrained tax collection, which in turn
has impacted public spending and driven
up inequality. And the problem isn't
exclusive to Asia. The Bank of England's
unconventional policy of quantitative
easing (QE) in response to the last
financial crisis involved creating new
money to buy financial assets, like
government debt. But the Bank's own
analysis estimated that the wealthiest 10%
of households were enriched by £350,000
(US$478,000) each during the first five
years of QE - more than 100 times the
benefit seen by the poorest 10%. In fact, it
ARJUN GARGEYAS
was estimated that for every £1 of QE,
only 8 pence of that made it into the
economy. This goes some way to
explaining why housing prices and
financial markets are hitting record highs,
despite efforts to control the spread of
Covid-19 forcing many businesses into
lockdown: Money begets money, and as
American novelist James Baldwin once
put it, "Anyone who has ever struggled
with poverty knows how extremely
expensive it is to be poor."
The fact is that we live in a world where
policymakers and governments are
creating and perpetuating wealth
inequality. And this is amplified by the
fact that the pandemic exacerbated this
disparity: While millions of people around
the world were losing their jobs,
billionaires in the US saw their wealth
surge by a staggering $1.8 trillion,
skyrocketing 62%. This is why it's so
crucial for greater financial inclusion and
than before.
But, unfortunately, the EU's carbon tax
is not limited to rich countries.
Documents released so far speak of a
global application, with the same level of
tax for similar products from anywhere in
the world. That means developing
countries exporting to the EU could take a
significant hit - one reason the carbon tax
has sparked anger in countries with
significant trade levels with the EU.
The developing countries raise
objections on multiple grounds. First is
the globally accepted and acknowledged
principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities, which means that while
all countries are responsible for taking
measures to protect the environment,
they are not equally responsible. Under
this time-tested and successful principle,
wealthy countries need to make a much
greater contribution in cutting emissions,
while no such responsibility can be placed
on poorer nations simply because for over
200 years since industrialization began,
rich countries have been the major source
of pollution.
For instance, from 1850 to 2007, the US
is estimated to have emitted 339,174
million tons of carbon dioxide, Germany
about 81,194 million tons, and so on. In
comparison, India has produced 28,824
million tons, Democratic Republic of
Congo 681 million tons and South Africa
521 million tons.
Source: Arab news
How India could get involved in new AUKUS alliance
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is
heading to the United States to
participate in the first in-person Quad
summit to take place later this month.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue,
comprising India, Australia, Japan and the
United States, has been getting a lot of
media attention ever since it reconvened as
a potential alliance last year. With China
flexing its muscles in the Indo-Pacific
region, the Quad re-emerged as a
counterbalancing tool to the hegemony of
China in the region.
However, this looks like only the
beginning of potential Western coalitions as
a response to China's influence in the
region. US President Joe Biden this week
announced a new alliance with the United
Kingdom and Australia known as "AUKUS"
specifically focusing on the security aspect of
the Indo-Pacific region.
The newly announced alliance appears to
be intended a base for all three states to
indulge in defense and technology
cooperation and to collaborate on governing
emerging technologies such as artificial
intelligence and cyberspace.
While India's involvement in the Quad is
needed, there are also pragmatic reasons for
India to work with the AUKUS states to
achieve their objectives. Modi's first face-toface
meeting with Biden could help make
India's case for getting involved with
AUKUS.
The Quad, when first conceived, had
maritime security as one of its main focus
areas. With China building up its naval
capabilities throughout the last two decades,
the Quad aimed to build alliances with the
EU leaders have justified the tax, which also will be applied on foreign
airlines arriving into the bloc, as a countermeasure to balance out poorer
environmental norms in other nations. However, the tax has already
brought loud protests by almost every non-EU nation, notably developing
countries, which say that Brussels is simply erecting another barrier
to trade and providing unfair assistance to its own businesses.
rest of the region in the form of joint naval
exercises and investments in developing
state-of-the-art naval fleets. With critical
technologies at the heart of geopolitical
rivalries during the past five years, these
emerging technologies remain an immense
strategic asset to different states.
Technology will likely be the future
battleground for geopolitical dominance,
with conventional warfare taking a back
seat. Cyber, space and communications are
emerging as potential areas of conflict
between states.
AUKUS includes the United States, which
is the global leader in technology
innovation, but the UK and Australia
remain inexperienced players in the
technology domain. India, with its share in
the global technology ecosystem, could
provide an immense advantage in terms of
both human resources and capital for
cooperation in emerging technologies.
This cross-border collaboration,
especially in strategic technologies, could
help states in the region address the threats
of attacks in the digital domain.
The region faces instability due to the
number of potential nuclear powers in Asia.
The threat of escalation to nuclear warfare
looms large.
A flurry of activity in developing nuclear
capabilities has been seen in recent times.
South Korea recently tested a submarinelaunched
ballistic missile (SLBM) despite
not being a nuclear state. North Korea
responded by testing its own ballistic
missiles, as a possible arms race develops in
the Korean Peninsula.
What some observers have called China's
nuclear ambiguity and the possibility of
The Quad, when first conceived, had maritime security
as one of its main focus areas. With China building up
its naval capabilities throughout the last two decades,
the Quad aimed to build alliances with the rest of the
region in the form of joint naval exercises and investments
in developing state-of-the-art naval fleets.
Pakistan's nuclear weapons reaching the
hands of extremists could pose significant
threats to the region.
The AUKUS alliance is expected to focus
on underwater defense capabilities as a
deterrence to the Chinese military presence
in the region. With specific focus on
developing nuclear-powered submarines
for Australia, this just reaffirms Biden's
evolving foreign policy as a highly Indo-
Pacific approach.
India, on the other hand, is one of the
most technologically developed nuclear
states in the region. It also has the
The fact is that we live in a world where policymakers and
governments are creating and perpetuating wealth inequality.
And this is amplified by the fact that the pandemic exacerbated
this disparity: While millions of people around the world were
losing their jobs, billionaires in the US saw their wealth
surge by a staggering $1.8 trillion, skyrocketing 62%.
distinction of being one of the first nations to
undertake the development of nuclearpowered
submarines. The INS Arihant,
launched by India in 2009, was the first
ballistic-missile submarine developed by a
state other than the five permanent
members of the UN Security Council.
This kind of experience that India
possesses in the field of underwater warfare
and the proximity to the region should serve
as a major incentive for AUKUS and India
to collaborate on nuclear defense
capabilities with a focus on security and
stability in the region.
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to a
massive decline in globalization and
international trade. Global supply chains
were restructured to protect domestic
economies, leading to shortages (such as the
silicon-chip shortage). Protectionism was
on the rise and states strove for selfsufficiency
across domains. India's own
flagship project, the Aatma Nirbhar Bharat,
advocates being self-reliant in all aspects.
History has shown that technological selfsufficiency
remains elusive because of the
number of bottlenecks in the global supply
chain. However, achieving technical
expertise in an area of strength can help
both strategically and economically.
AUKUS aims to build an alliance that can
indulge in technology cooperation across
domains. The United States' expertise in
defense technology and Australia's growing
rare-earths processing industry are just two
of the potential areas for technology
transfer.
Source: Asia times
literacy, and where financial technology
can make a massive impact on wealth
inequality.
In the ASEAN-6 region, there is a
young, digitally native population that
spends an average of eight hours a day
online. Smartphone penetration is on the
verge of crossing 70% of the population,
and last year 40 million of its people
became first-time Internet users, placing
fintech companies in pole position for
innovation.
And the opportunity for fintech is not
just to provide digital alternatives to
traditional banking, but is also about
addressing the challenge of providing a
broader suite of financial products.
Apps like Wahed (a firm of which I am
the chief executive officer) focus on
providing users with investment
opportunities that align with key
principles of fairness, equity and
transparency - because increasing
inequality has spurred on a new
generation of investors to seek
investments that align with their social
and ethical values.
Investing and wealth-management
services that have previously been out of
reach of customers because they lack
experience or access now have a plethora
of options to choose from.
Source: Asia times