A Study on Some Aspects of Green Banking Practices in Bangladesh

Abstract

The present age of modern industrialization has added a lot of comfort and luxury to human life but has also created an alarming situation by huge environmental degradation. Bangladesh is one of the sufferers to this environmental pollution. Under such extreme environmental threat, a very significant role between economic development and ecological protection can be played by the bank. Green banking is now-a-days a buzz word in the banking industry. Green banking refers a new method of performing banking activities by taking the consideration of hygienic environment and social welfare. This paper mainly tries to present a comprehensive picture of the present condition of Bangladesh in the adoption of green banking policy. In order to do so a study has been initiated to make a comparative analysis among different categories of banks operating in Bangladesh. The banks of Bangladesh can be classified in four types. They are 1. State owned Commercial Bank (SCB), 2. Specialized Development Bank (SDB), 3. Private Commercial Bank (PCB), 4. Foreign Commercial Bank (FCB). The purpose of this study is to find out whether the banks have adopted green banking policy that guided by Bangladesh Bank. The study mainly uses secondary data which are collected from Bangladesh Bank reports and related websites and published articles. This study finds that the govt. banks are lagging behind as comparison to private and foreign banks in case of performing green banking activities. By analysing the performance trend of green banking from 2012 to 2016, it is found that in Bangladesh the overall green banking performance is growing but at a slow rate. The paper also identifies some reasons for the banks poor performance and proposes some corrective measures which can ensure a safe residence for upcoming generation.