“World Environment Day and Environment Fair 2026 Closing and Award Ceremony”

With the theme “Climate Change: Today’s Action, Tomorrow’s Security”, the World Environment Day and Environment Fair 2026 was inaugurated on 09 July 2026. On this occasion, the Closing and Award Ceremony of World Environment Day and Environment Fair 2026 was organized on 02 September 2026 at the 3rd floor conference room of the new building of the Department of Environment. The Honorable Minister of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Mr. Abdul Awal Mintu, MP, was present as the chief guest at the event. The Honorable Acting Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Fahmida Khanam was present as the special guest, and the Director General of the Department of Environment, Dr. Md. Lutfar Rahman presided over the event. The event started at 11.00 am with the recitation of the Holy Quran. Then, a documentary was shown on various activities of the Department of Environment on the occasion of World Environment Day 2026. Mr. Parvez Chowdhury, Director (Administration) of the Department of Environment, delivered a welcome speech at the event. While delivering his speech, he said that this year, the Department has organized various programs on the occasion of World Environment Day 2026, such as publishing souvenirs and brochures, organizing drawing competitions for children and adolescents, organizing debate competitions, inviting proposals for environmental projects, selecting the best stalls participating in the environmental fair, organizing seminars on environmental issues, providing assistance in conducting awareness activities in 100 educational institutions of Dhaka Metropolitan City, and organizing seminars with industrial entrepreneurs. He concluded his speech by thanking all the officers and employees involved in organizing all these programs. Dr. Farhina Ahmed, Honorable Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, delivered a brief speech as a special guest at the event. He said that the main goal of celebrating any of our days is to create public awareness. To this end, World Environment Day is celebrated every year with a specific theme. The theme of this year's World Environment Day has been set as "Climate Action", which is translated into Bengali as "Climate Change: Today's Action, Tomorrow's Security". Last year's theme was on plastic pollution. Every year there is a different theme, based on which we take up various programs to raise awareness. On the occasion of the day, this year, a drawing competition for children and teenagers, a debate competition, various meetings and seminars have been organized. The focus of each program was on the current actions we have taken on climate change, so that future generations Adaptation and Resilience can be created. He emphasized on the proper implementation of Adaptation and Mitigation Measures in various policies and plans adopted by the government to address the impacts of climate change. Thereafter, the chief guest of the event, Mr. Abdul Awal Mintu, MP, Honorable Minister of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, presented awards to the best performers in the children and youth drawing competition, debate competition, environmental project proposal competition and the participating institutions/organizations in the environmental fair. Certificates, crests, prize bonds and watercolors were given to the 12 winners of the children and youth drawing competition. Among them, the 3 best performers were given a prize bond of 3000/- taka each and the 9 best performers were given a prize bond of 2000/- taka each. 32 universities and medical colleges participated in the debate competition, out of which the winning team was Rajshahi University and the runner-up was Begum Rokeya University. The winning team was awarded a prize money of 40,000 taka and the runner-up team was awarded a prize money of 30,000 taka, crest and certificate. 81 applications were submitted in the environmental project proposal competition. After the verification, 3 people were declared winners and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners were awarded 30,000 taka, 25,000 taka, 20,000 taka and certificate respectively. 7 individuals/organizations who achieved the best position among the participating organizations/institutions in the environmental fair were declared winners and were awarded crests and certificates. After the award ceremony, the Honorable Minister, Mr. Abdul Awal Mintu, MP, while delivering his speech as the chief guest, said, “The prerequisite for sustainable development is an environmentally friendly economy. To ensure sustainable development, three interrelated important issues need to be strengthened: environmental protection, social development and economic progress. An environmentally friendly economy is the driving force to meet the challenges of sustainable development in the 21st century, through which it is possible to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by ensuring minimum carbon emissions, fair use of resources and employment. To ensure an environmentally friendly economy, we have to work for pollution-free production systems, poverty alleviation and green employment creation.” In his speech, he also said, “To combat climate change in the long term, the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has formulated Bangladesh’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2023-50 under the UNFCCC and as part of setting the target for reducing global carbon emissions, Bangladesh has formulated and submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC 3.0) to the UNFCCC.” "Along with addressing the harmful effects of climate change, the government has formulated an election manifesto giving priority to controlling various pollutions including industrial pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, air pollution, and the introduction of environmentally friendly waste management and stopping the use of harmful polythene and plastic. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is working to implement the election manifesto," he informed everyone present at the event. Finally, he concluded his speech by urging all the awardees to continue their sincere efforts to protect the environment and control pollution in the future. After the award distribution, the president of the event, Director General of the Department of Environment Dr. Md. Lutfar Rahman, thanked the officials of the department and all concerned for organizing the World Environment Day and Environment Fair 2026 smoothly and declared the event over.