-Dr. Atiur Rahman*
It was indeed a great privilege for me to achieve the honorary Doctor of Science (Economics) from globally acclaimed media personality Ms Zeinab Badawi, the President of SOAS University of London yesterday at the graduation ceremony. Also present in the ceremony were Lord Hastings, the chair of board trustees and Professor Adam Habib, the Vice Chancellor in addition to the faculties, the invited guests and the graduates. In my acceptance speech I highlighted the existentialist challenges including the climate change faced by the only planet that we have and share. The full speech included:
“It is with great humility that I appear before you this afternoon to receive this honor from my alma mater SOAS, University of London, the institution that deeply shaped my own inspirations, convictions, and destinations. Let me first express my deepest appreciation to Professor Adam Habib, the Vice-Chancellor, and to the jury board for having the trust to confer this recognition for my academic role as a teacher and researcher and regulatory role for promoting financial inclusion and sustainable finance as a Governor of Bangladesh Bank.
As I stand before you and look back at my time here over four decades ago, I fondly remember the blessings of my supervisor, Professor T J Byres, who molded me into what I am today. He sharpened my empathy for the lives of the peasants; helped me better understand the difficult choices faced by the poor. I also recall my other professors and mentors here at SOAS and Dhaka University. Sadly, many of them are no longer with us in this world. May their souls remain in peace.
Please allow me to be a bit personal. I want to acknowledge the sacrifices of my wife, Professor Shahana Rahman who not only tolerated me all these decades but also gave me courage I needed in difficult times, raised our three wonderful daughters. She generously shared her knowledge of the literature of Rabindranath Tagore, who was a proponent of social inclusion and justice.
Receiving this recognition at a time when the world is grappling with unprecedented uncertainties and multiple challenges, including existentialist ones like climate change, is indeed very special to me. It underscores the significance of this recognition and also the responsibilities it entails. I was humbled to learn that besides my research on alleviating poverty, the jury board recognized my contributions as a central bank governor in shaping the design of sustainable finance to address the climate change challenges. When I became the Governor of Bangladesh Bank at the peak of the global financial crisis during 2008-09, Bangladesh was reeling from a combination of global and domestic shocks. We made several monetary policy innovations and relied on financial inclusion and sustainable finance to cope the impending recession and to security a more balanced and equitable recovery.
The agenda involved a cultural shift and needed constant nurturing. We tried hard to ingrain socially and environmentally desirable financial ethos. Bangladesh Bank designed a credible sustainable finance policy to promote green growth, including by transforming the apparel industry.
Today, Bangladesh houses over two hundred plus LEED-certified green ready-made garment factories, 73 of them are Platinum rated. At the risk of stating the obvious, let me add that we must work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and build resilience to create opportunities for new green jobs, sustainable energy utilization, and green growth.
Driving such a positive change will, of course , take time, will need convictions and investment in individuals and institutions, cooperation across agencies and countries. For me, climate change is a constant reminder of our common humanity. And, I can certainly share this feeling with you as I come from Bangladesh which is now going through one of the worst flood disasters of our time. The human and economic costs of this climate induced disaster are simply unimaginable.
Central Banks can help but we all have to work together. While the central banks can think beyond their narrow inflation mandate, universities like SOAS can also help develop the knowledge base for the greening of the minds of tomorrow’s policymakers and regulators for a climate-friendly financial ecology – in other words, the shift of the culture. Let SOAS host an iconic global climate finance center where academics, practitioners, alumni can put their hearts and hands with the faculties and students to make a greener and safer world. I very much look forward to celebrating the contributions of SOAS in fighting the existentialist challenge we face to protect the only Earth we all have and share.
I thank the SOAS authority for reposing their trust in me by conferring this award.
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Thank you all.”
