Scaling up Green Construction in Bangladesh The construction sector in Bangladesh is booming, given the increasing population, rapid urbanization and industrialization along with the country¿s growing economy. The sector is currently dominated by traditional brick manufacturing of fired clay bricks and traditional brick kilns: an industry which despite its output (35 billion bricks per year) is still mostly artisanal and informal. The traditional brick production is one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gas emission (approx. 8.75M tonnes annually) and consumes approximately 2.2M tonnes of coal and 1.9M tonnes of firewood. It is widely responsible for land degradation and depletion of natural resources. This goes along with poor social conditions and non-observance of workers¿ occupational health and safety standards.A transition towards more sustainable production faces the challenge of: a high level of informality of the sector, traditional kilns undercutting real market prices through unsustainable practices, little (or no) access to finance for brick manufacturers, very low knowledge of, and incentives for alternative ¿ non-fired bricks, and the absence of product standards for alternative bricks.The Action will tackle the above challenges through a holistic sector ecosystem approach which includes the introduction of clean technologies (SDG 9), less resource intensive production (SDG 12), while safeguarding social standards and decent work (SDG 8), ultimately resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions and environmental degradation (SDG 13).This will be achieved along the lines of three outcomes: Firstly, improved energy efficiency and compliance with new/updated national standards for green bricks and blocks manufacturing. Secondly, improved market and investment conditions for climate friendly non-fired, energy efficient bricks and alternative bricks. Lastly, improved labour conditions for male and female workers, effectively integrating a gender and human rights based approach and reduced inequalities for the identified vulnerable groups.This AAP follows a Team Europe approach by building on two existing Team Europe Initiatives (Green Energy Transition & Decent Work). It also directly contributes to the European Union¿s key sector policy priorities as Agenda 2030, the European Consensus for Development and the European Green Deal, hence it directly supports the Indo-Pacific Strategy and the Global Gateway for the European external action. Finally it is designed to promote moresustainable brick production as a launching pad for possible future funding through the EFSD+ to allow for scaling-up and encouraging investment in the sector through non-traditional development finance (possible future blended finance, green bonds, etc.).