DHAKA, October 30, 2026 - A multi-stakeholder Green Transition Working Group (GTWG) has been launched in Bangladesh to improve access to green financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and promote environmentally sustainable business practices. Report BSS
Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD), in collaboration with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), launched the initiative at an inception workshop in Dhaka on Thursday under the Access to Green Finance (A2GF) for Enterprises Program.
The working group will focus on overcoming barriers to green finance, technology adoption and compliance with environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.
Mohammad Navid Safiullah, additional secretary to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and chair of the working group, identified resource efficiency, green financing, technology transfer, skills development, market expansion, climate resilience and institutional coordination as key priorities. He also said the draft carbon market framework was nearly finalized and awaiting cabinet approval.
BUILD CEO Ferdaus Ara Begum said cottage, micro and small enterprises account for around 99 percent of manufacturing enterprises but face significant difficulties accessing affordable formal finance. She called for coordinated action on financing, ESG standards, technology and regulatory reform.
A BUILD analysis presented at the workshop estimated that SMEs receive only 1–5 percent of total green financing, despite accounting for around 30 percent of GDP and nearly 85 percent of industrial employment.
The working group proposed a 12-month roadmap, including piloting simplified green-investment applications with banks, sustainability reporting for 100 micro and small enterprises, and energy and resource audits for 50 SMEs in an industrial cluster.
Participants also called for accessible financing packages, rooftop solar, resource-efficient technologies, simplified environmental procedures and stronger institutional coordination.
The A2GF program is funded by the Embassy of Switzerland in Bangladesh and implemented by UNCDF with partner organizations. The workshop concluded with discussions on priority actions and a roadmap for 2026–27.
