Lanka looking to make climate change an opportunity for low-carbon economy

President to launch Sri Lanka’s Climate Prosperity Plan at COP27 in Egypt; proposes to establish International University on Climate Change

As a high-level UN summit on climate change starts today in Egypt, Sri Lanka and other climate-vulnerable countries will push for the need of having more funds for loss and damage caused by climate change impacts.

The country is also looking to make climate change an opportunity to develop technologies and gear towards a lowcarbon economy, said Environment Ministry Secretary Dr. Anil Jasinghe, who is heading the official delegation representing Sri Lanka.

The climate summit will be attended by around 100 heads of state and Sri Lanka will be represented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe. He will address the summit, and will also launch Sri Lanka’s Climate Prosperity Plan.

This will detail Sri Lanka’s future action plan to achieve economic growth while having a low-carbon pathway, Dr. Jasinghe said.

Climate change, including long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns caused by increased greenhouse gas emissions, is seen as the worst challenge humanity faces in this century.

When scientists pointed out the risk, the world gathered at the 1992 Earth Summit to set up the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) and address this issue.

The 198 signatory countries meet every year at the Conference of Parties where the 27th such gathering (COP27) is happening at Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt from November 6 to 18.

Studies show that emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities have been responsible for roughly 1.1°C of global warming since 1850, and they also found that over the next 20 years, global temperatures were expected to reach or exceed 1.5°C of global warming. If no action was taken immediately, this would cause catastrophic and severe climate change, scientists warned.

“The main livelihoods of many Sri Lankans are agriculture, fishing, and tourism which are sectors that will be impacted by climate change. So we are a country that is severely vulnerable to climate change,” Dr. Jasinghe said.

A global climate risk review that analysed to what extent countries had been affected by the impact of weather-related disasters such as storms, floods and heat waves, ranked Sri Lanka 2nd in 2017 and 6th in 2018, in terms of vulnerability due to weather and climaterelated disasters caused by global warming.

According to the study, rising sea levels, intense rainfall and floods, and long dry periods and droughts are only a few of the major issues Sri Lanka would face in the coming years.

Sri Lanka’s greenhouse gas emission was only 0.03%, which was negligible, but the country aimed to achieve a net zero level said Dr. Jasinghe.

Sri Lanka also signed the 2015 Paris Agreement where one of the clauses was the reduction of such emissions.

Under the Paris agreement, Sri Lanka released its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), which was a climate action plan to cut emissions--including 4% unconditional and 10.5% conditional emission reduction commitments.

Last month, Japan signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Sri Lanka on the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) for Low-Carbon Growth Partnership. Under this programme, the Japanese Government and private sector would provide technical assistance and capital investments to implement climate-friendly mechanisms in Sri Lanka. These include projects in energy, industry, transport, waste, forestry, and agriculture for reducing GHG emissions which are to be set up soon, a statement from the President’s Office said.

Last month, President Wickremesinghe proposed to establish an International University on Climate Change in Sri Lanka with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to enable students from any country to engage in educational activities.

"It is heartening to see a President of this country taking serious note of climate change. While it is too early to comment or review the intentions, what is missing is a clear plan and strategy to show how Sri Lanka will take a critical path towards sustainability, which is the end objective of climate action," said Former Ministerial Sustainable Development Advisor Uchita de Soyza, who is also a climate activist.

"Sri Lanka needs to adopt a long-term sustainability plan derived through proper databased assessments feeding into a strategic foresight mechanism. We have conducted preliminary assessments through collection and analysis of data by hundreds of experts which is not used by ignorant and selfserving authorities, thus leaving the political hierarchy in the dark," Mr. de Soyza said.

President Wickremesinghe recently appointed Ruwan Wijewardene as his climate change advisor, and he also appointed Norway’s former Environment Minister Eric Solheim as his international advisor on climate change-related matters.

"Since the economy and the environment are linked, a longterm plan will be presented to prevent increasing climate changes,"Mr. Wijewardene said, at the opening session of the Climate Finance conference held recently at Bangkok in Thailand.

COP27 would consist of leaders' roundtables on November 7 and 8 and President Wickremesinghe would take part in the food security roundtable, Dr. Jasinghe said. As the changing climate would impact food yield and crop production, this is a timely topic for Sri Lanka, he added.

Loss and damage--a mechanism of compensation for vulnerable countries already suffering from climate-related extreme weather and weatherrelated disasters would also be a part of the summit's formal agenda.

At last year's COP26 in Glasgow, the United States and the European Union rejected calls for a fund to compensate such losses, but Sri Lanka would support such a mechanism in the global arena, Dr. Jasinghe said.

"There are some funds already available for adaptations, mitigation and to cover the damage under global climate change mechanisms. But to request money under these, a country needs to submit proper proposals with accurate technical data," said Centre for Environmental Justice Spokesperson Hemantha Withanage.

"Sri Lanka needs to enhance this technical capacity as other countries such as India and Brazil are securing these funds," Mr. Withanage added.

"There are some funds already available for adaptations, mitigation and to cover the damage under global climate change mechanisms. But to request money under these, a country needs to submit proper proposals with accurate technical data,