Marking upcoming World Environment Day 2025 on 5 June, ETI Bangladesh hosted a webinar on 1 June titled “Promoting Renewable Energy and Environmental Sustainability.” The session brought together 201 participants from 89 RMG factories.
Nafiz Mahmud Ayon, Programme Manager - Sustainable Manufacturing & Environmental Pollution at ETI Bangladesh, facilitated the discussion.
This year’s World Environment Day theme highlights renewable energy, fitting perfectly with both global and Bangladesh's own goals to reach 'Net Zero' emissions.
ETI Bangladesh’s Executive Director Abil Bin Amin convened the webinar emphasising the urgency of a renewable energy transition in RMG to ensure the industry’s long-term sustainability, especially with mandatory HREDD requirements (from 2027) and a growing global consumer demand for responsible business practices.
Farjana Yasmin, ETI Bangladesh’s Climate Change Specialist, discussed the webinar’s main focus, highlighting the ‘3P model’ of People, Planet & Profit – where renewables can contribute to significant carbon emission reductions (up to 50%), making the transition to renewables both a financially viable and a forward-looking solution.
A key agenda of the webinar was to conduct a small-scale rapid assessment on the current situation in Bangladesh’s RMG, including current practices for environmental sustainability and renewable energy in factories as well as their existing energy mix. Out of 50 factory respondents, 64% shared that they have incorporated renewable sources into their energy mix.
Audience poll results further revealed that while a few factories reported using up to 50% renewable energy, majority of the respondents still use renewables minimally - with 1% being the most common response.
Core challenges towards renewable energy adoption in factories revealed by participants included: limited space, technical capacity and finances. Improper electricity load management and a lack of willingness for renewable energy adoption was also highlighted.
Following the interactive factory assessment polls, Adury Apparels and Norp Knit (a concern of Pearl Global) shared their prior interventions as well as upcoming plans for World Environment Day.
The event ended with factory participants sharing their plans for World Environment Day 2025. Some participants revealed their ongoing internal plans for renewable energy adoption, with some factories expressing ambitious targets. One factory mentioned plans for an 80% renewable energy mix by 2025, indicating the sector’s growing (albeit still small-scale) appetite for a greener industry.
