The prime minister assured that the project would not harm the Sundarbans, as stated by former US vice president Al Gore at a session on climate change at the Davos Congress Centre. She emphasized that the proposed power plant would be located 14km from the Sundarbans boundary and 70 km from the World Heritage Site, and would use clean coal and modern technology to minimize environmental impact. The Deputy Press Secretary to the PM, Nazrul Islam, mentioned that the prime minister invited Gore to visit Bangladesh and see the location firsthand. Bangladesh has agreed to a contract with India to construct a 1,320-megawatt thermal power plant in Rampal, located 14 kilometers away from the Sundarbans in Bagerhat. Environmentalists and leftist parties are against the project, arguing that the coal-fired power plant will endanger the ecological balance of the Sundarbans, which is the world's largest mangrove forest. Despite the opposition, the government insists that appropriate measures will be implemented to safeguard the environment from pollution. According to Deputy Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Islam, the Prime Minister addressed concerns at the Davos plenary session, stating that some individuals are needlessly making a controversy out of the situation. Hasina reportedly reassured the session that she personally would not approve any project that posed a threat to the environment. Besides the ex-vice president of the United States, other attendees at the session included Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, HSBC Group CEO Stuart Gulliver, and Cofco Agri CEO Jingtao Chi.