Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Greenhouse-Gas Emission Reduction for Sustainable Development

Bangladesh emits under 0.5% of global greenhouse gases (GHG) yet ranks thirteenth on the long-term Climate Risk Index. Its manufacturing core in Dhaka, Narayanganj and Gazipur (DNG) hosts 70% of the country’s LEED-certified garment factories alongside its most severe air- and water-pollution hotspots. To profile corporate environmental responsibility (CER) practice and disclosure, document firm-level GHG-reduction trends, and map both to SDGs 7, 8, 9, 12 and 13 across the belt during the policy-dense 2021–2025 window. A descriptive repeated cross-section of 170 manufacturing firms (714 firm-years; 611 documents) drawn from a frame of 3,612 entities, scored with a 30-item CER Disclosure Index (CERDI; six domains; Krippendorff’s α = 0.84) and triangulated against regulatory, certification, energy and green-finance records. Trend series are rebuilt on a balanced panel, emission intensity is re-expressed at constant prices and in US dollars, and macro-policy shocks are examined as rival explanations. Pooled CERDI is 35.5/100 (firm-level SD 9.8). Sector explains far more variation than district (13.4- versus 0.5-point spread; ICC = 0.14). Commitment domains score highest (policy 47.6; water 45.1) and emissions accounting lowest (22.6); no firm obtained assurance and 15.9% disclosed a quantified target. The nominal 18.9% fall in median emission intensity reverses to a 13.3% rise at constant prices and a 15.7% rise in dollar terms; balanced-panel absolute emissions fell 3.0%, tracking output contraction and gas rationing rather than abatement. Because the frame excludes non-disclosing firms (91% of candidates), the CERDI is an upper bound. The belt’s decoupling is between disclosure and measurement, and its measured “improvement” is largely a price artefact. Neither EU CBAM nor the narrowed CSRD/CSDDD regime will discipline apparel suppliers in the near term, so domestic instruments clearance renewal conditioned on verified performance, assured ISSB-aligned disclosure, and refinance design are the binding levers.