Environmental governance and sustainable development in Bangladesh: millennium development goals and sustainable development goals

Environmental conservation is an acknowledged precondition for the sustainable development of any country, whether developing or developed. Like other countries of the world, Bangladesh is seeking to ensure sustainable development through appropriate policies, structures and processes of environmental governance. In response, this note addresses the present state of environmental governance in Bangladesh, with significant gaps being identified in the government’s progress concerning the Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals. The challenges for the government involve the imbalance between economic growth and environmental conservation, the weak enforcement of rules and regulations, the lack of organisational coordination, responsiveness and responsibility, and the shortfalls in the mobilisation of required resources.