Sri Lanka’s stance on climate change reflects a significant increase in climate-induced hazards over the past decade compared to previous years. This surge amounts to a 22-fold rise in such occurrences and encompasses catastrophic extreme weather events and gradual environmental changes. 

According to assessments by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank in 2021, Sri Lanka faces an annual economic loss of approximately $ 3,626 million due to climate change impacts. Global assessments, such as the Global Climate Risk Index 2021 by Germanwatch, rank Sri Lanka 23rd among the top 25 countries most susceptible to climate-related risks. 

Given these alarming statistics, The Sunday Morning explored the initiatives that the Government has in place to address the potential risks that Sri Lanka will face in the coming years.

Over the past eight months, the Government has implemented several initiatives to work toward making an impact on reducing and mitigating climate-related risks. 

Senior Advisor to the President on Climate Change MP Ruwan Wijewardene, speaking to The Sunday Morning, stated: “Acting on the deliverables presented during the UN Climate Summit in September 2023, we have demarcated a land in Kotmale to establish the International Climate Change University. This is a significant step towards fostering international collaboration, knowledge exchange, and building a collective response to the urgent and complex challenges posed by climate change. 

“The Tropical Belt Initiative launched at COP28 in Dubai, the UAE on 2 December 2023 focuses on harnessing commercial investments in vital natural resources within the tropical belt, such as forests, swamps, and mangroves. Moreover, the Climate Justice Forum aims to expedite the provision of financial assistance for loss and damage due to climate impacts and effectively address the climate crisis. 

“Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s Climate Prosperity Plan proposed by President Ranil Wickremesinghe focuses on strategies in unlocking the maximum domestic renewable energy potential and enhancing resilience through nature-based solutions and financial protection.”

Wijewardene noted that parliamentarians had last week held a discussion focusing on crucial issues related to climate change and renewable energy in the South Asian region, with a particular emphasis on Sri Lanka and parliamentary actions surrounding these matters.

Caucus on Climate Change Chair Eran Wickramaratne had highlighted how climate change could pose a threat to small islands like Sri Lanka, leading to unexpected droughts, floods, landslides, sea-level rise, and other environmental changes. 

“These incidents have prompted the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on the urgent need to address the impacts of climate change and the requirement to transition towards net zero emissions by 2050. We need to make correct policy decisions to make necessary changes in time to prevent global climate breakdown,” he said.

A global climate solution

During COP28 in December 2023, Sri Lanka officially launched the Tropical Belt Initiative, positioning it as a holistic solution to the triple planetary crisis. This initiative harnesses the natural capital, renewable energy potential, and biodiversity of tropical regions to combat climate change on a global scale.

Senior academics and Government officials have stressed on the importance of leveraging the resources within the tropical belt, emphasising on the need for international collaboration and investment to support sustainable development in developing countries.

Speaking at the launch, then Secretary to the Ministry of Environment Dr. Anil Jasinghe emphasised: “Sri Lanka is presenting a ‘global climate solution’ devoid of geopolitics to address the issue of tackling the triple planetary crisis. The Sri Lankan global solution is based on the power of the natural capital of the tropical belt, its enormous renewable energy capacity, and high biodiversity power.”

University of Peradeniya Faculty of Agriculture Senior Professor Buddhi Marambe elaborated on the role and significance of including the 134 developed and developing countries of the tropical belt. “With the tropical belt being home to more oceans than land, the potential of the ocean as global sinks need to be utilised. We have to establish a panel of experts to analyse the potential investments of the tropical belt to reconstruct the economy of developing countries.”

In January, President Wickremesinghe called for collaboration from development partners, the private sector, and the international finance community to support Sri Lanka’s Climate Prosperity Plans. These plans focus on resource-based sectors and aim to make Sri Lanka a net energy exporter by 2025, with renewable energy meeting over 100% of domestic power needs by 2040. Initiatives include low-carbon agriculture practices, offshore wind projects with local manufacturing, and ensuring the resilience of industries and supply chains.

National commitments to climate change

As a signatory to both the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, Sri Lanka has committed to supporting global efforts to achieve sustainable development, limiting global temperature rise to safer limits, and building resilient societies to face inevitable climate change impacts. 

The draft National Policy and Strategy on Sustainable Development set a policy goal related to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 – Climate Action, as “commitments on climate change are achieved while ensuring adaptation to and mitigation of climate change impacts”. Further, national commitments on climate change are elaborated more comprehensively under the mandate of the Paris Agreement.

The updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) reflect a more ambitious, quantified, and robust assessment of the mitigation potential and adaptation measures for the next decade (2021-2030) informed by updated analysis, improved information and data, and an extensive stakeholder consultation process. Another key initiative the Government took in relation to climate change is launching the National Adaptation Plan (NAP) for 2016-2025, covering nine key vulnerable sectors, in alignment with the SDGs.

The mitigation actions presented in the updated SDGs reflect improved target setting in six sectors; energy (power: electricity generation and end-use), transport, industry, waste, forestry, and agriculture (including livestock). The enhanced ambitions include reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions by 14.5% (4% unconditional and 10.5% conditional) and increasing forest cover to 32% by 2030, concerning the Business as Usual (BAU) scenario (2021). 

To realise this ambitious target, Sri Lanka has further committed to:

• Achieve 70% renewable energy in electricity generation by 2030
• Achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 in electricity generation
• No further capacity addition of coal power plants

Further, Sri Lanka has pledged to achieve economy-wide net zero carbon status by 2050. Thus, the ‘Carbon Net Zero 2050 Roadmap and Strategic Plan for Sri Lanka’ attempts to create an avenue toward a just transition to net zero pathways.