SDG 11a – Improve economic and social links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas.

Expected impact: Provide taxi services to 68k people linking rural and urban areas. End users in peri-urban / rural areas will feel the largest impact.

SDG 8.5 – Sustain productive employment.

Expected impact: Enable three-wheeler asset ownership and income generation for 7k drivers. An end user survey will be conducted to further understand the characteristics of the drivers. We expect drivers who are owning a taxi vehicle for the first time will feel the largest impact.

Challenge: No internationally certified sustainability bonds have been issued in Bangladesh.

Channel: Demonstrate the first accredited sustainability bonds in the market.

Outcome: Increase in the pool of local capital allocated towards sustainability-linked instruments to further enable the growth of the bond market.

$25m of local currency mobilised from domestic investors.

$99k to support transaction costs associated with the issuance of the sustainability bond.

Transition risk: Anticipated to be medium.

• An improvement of fuel efficiency for transport subsector is stated as a route to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions in the nationally determined contributions (NDC)¹. The LPG three wheelers align with the government’s plan to move towards energy efficient vehicles
• The grid is predominantly powered by fossil fuels with limited scope to transition to renewables in the short-medium term due to land constraints, therefore grid charged electric vehicles would still be associated to high emissions during this period.

Resilience: A climate risk assessment was conducted on the manufacturing facility. Occupational health and safety training on heat stress management for workers will be included in the ESAP.

^{1. https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/NDC/2022-06/NDC_submission_20210826revised.pdf}

The company has committed to adopt policies and implement programmes that support a more equitable workplace and a capacity to promote women to senior leadership positions, moving them out of unskilled and low-paid roles, where they are clustered. In addition, the project company wants to increase the overall proportion of women employed within the company (governance and workforce).

As part of the due diligence process, 22 HSES improvements and six HSES enhancement opportunities in regard to driver training were identified which are now reflected in the Project Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP).