Sustainability Summit 2025 highlights tech-driven sustainability, ESG data, and digital innovation as drivers for SDG acceleration in Bangladesh.
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| With ESG metrics, AI tools, and sustainable innovation taking center stage, Bangladesh’s Sustainability Summit 2025 demonstrates how tech is rewriting the SDG roadmap. Image: Supplied |
Dhaka, Bangladesh — July 12, 2025:
The Sustainability Summit 2025, held at the Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel in Dhaka, returned for its second edition with a powerful new focus: how technology is driving sustainable transformation across business, policy, and society. Presented by AkijBashir Group and powered by SMC Enterprise Limited, the summit united business leaders, academics, policymakers, and changemakers under the theme: “Purpose-Led Progress: Embedding Sustainability in the DNA of Bangladeshi Business.”
This year’s summit marked a distinct shift toward tech-centric sustainability. Discussions explored how data-driven ESG strategies, AI-powered decision-making, and digital traceability tools are redefining the rules for responsible growth in Bangladesh and across emerging markets.
Keynote speaker Shehzad Munim, Independent Director of Linde Bangladesh, set the tone, saying, “The SDGs demand long-term reforms—this isn’t charity, it’s survival. ESG must be core to business and governance if we’re serious about 2030 targets. Water conservation alone can lower methane and unlock carbon trading potential.”
Munim also emphasized how digital water management systems and climate data modeling can transform cities, referencing Rajshahi’s success in localised sustainability through community-driven innovation.
Several sessions spotlighted data as a core enabler of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) alignment. Corporate leaders from PRAN-RFL, Shwapno, and Mutual Trust Bank discussed how digitizing supply chains, integrating sustainability metrics into core business systems, and measuring impact through real-time dashboards are becoming non-negotiables in global trade and investment.
Academics and business advisors highlighted Bangladesh’s green industrialisation potential, where technologies like IoT-enabled monitoring for emissions, blockchain for ethical sourcing, and AI models for circular economy logistics are already in early-stage deployment.
A standout panel—moderated by Jannatul Ferdousy of Sustainable Brand Initiatives—featured students from top Bangladeshi universities discussing how Gen Z innovators are shaping sustainability through tech-enabled social entrepreneurship and digital storytelling.
With the 2030 SDG deadline looming, experts stressed the importance of public-private partnerships to fast-track innovation. This includes deploying smart public infrastructure, expanding climate finance platforms, and integrating AI into environmental policy design.
Speakers also called for tech skills development across industries and policy circles, positioning digital sustainability literacy as a cornerstone for national development.
Hosted by Bangladesh Brand Forum and the Sustainable Brand Initiative, the summit sent a clear message: sustainability and technology are no longer parallel conversations—they are one and the same.
From ESG compliance tools to regenerative agriculture apps and smart packaging prototypes, Sustainability Summit 2025 showcased that Bangladesh’s innovation community is already planting seeds for a digitally enabled, climate-resilient economy.
With a growing ecosystem of responsible brands, digitally-savvy youth, and forward-thinking institutions, the path toward sustainable development now runs straight through tech-led transformation.