THE ENVIRONMENT
CLIMATE CHANGE
Compiled by Yamini Sequeira
ADAPTATION AND MITIGATION
Dr. Anil Jasinghe elaborates on the twin issues of pollution and climate change
The salient environmental challenges facing Sri Lanka include climate change, air pollution and soil erosion. Climate change is a global issue due to harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs); and even though Sri Lanka is categorised as a very low GHG emitting country (about .03% of global emissions), it has been at the receiving end of extreme weather events.
Climate change is causing temperatures to increase, glaciers to melt, sea levels to rise and climatic zones to shift. In Sri Lanka, the Wet Zone is becoming wetter and the Dry Zone drier. Floods – which were a rare occurrence in the past – have become the norm, bringing with them immeasurable losses, and damage to lives and property.
It is thought that by the year 2090, parts of Jaffna and the coastal belt could be overwhelmed by the sea if the current level of emissions continues. Meanwhile, the Maldives and several other countries could be entirely submerged.
GHG EMISSIONS Dr. Anil Jasinghe explains: “There are two major solutions to climate change – mitigation and adaptation. Mitigation involves reducing GHG emissions, which is the focus of the Conference of the Parties (COP) summits that are held annually.”
“A mere three or four countries emit over 50 percent of global emissions while the others are responsible for the remainder. Therefore, mitigation measures are aimed at industrialised countries,” he adds.
Jasinghe reveals that “when it comes to Sri Lanka, we practise adaptation measures to protect climate sensitive sectors such as agriculture, fisheries and tourism, and improve their resilience.”
“Though COP pledges a billion dollar fund for developing countries annually, this funding has never materialised. Developing countries have been lobbying to be compensated for losses and damages due to GHG emissions for 30 years before developed nations finally made the pledge,” he notes.
Sri Lanka receives some funding from the Global Climate Fund, and other development partners and implementing agencies. But the island has to solicit funding continuously to finance climate change adaptation projects.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe launched our Climate Prosperity Plan at the COP27 summit in Egypt, which will help turn crises into opportunities
The country has declared its nationally determined contributions (NDCs) similar to all the other nations that have adopted the Paris Agreement on climate change.
CLIMATE POLICY Jasinghe notes: “Sri Lanka’s National Adaptation Plan and National Climate Change Policy are being revised, and will be finalised within the year. We are in the last lap of finalising our ‘Net Zero 2050’ road map too.”
“Thereafter, we will have to identify sectors for mitigation and adaptation by studying each sector, and seeing how its emissions can be lowered. In addition, President Ranil Wickremesinghe launched our Climate Prosperity Plan at the COP27 summit in Egypt, which will help turn crises into opportunities,” he explains.
As for pollution, Sri Lanka suffers from air, water and land pollution. Jasinghe points out that air pollution is mainly transboundary, along with some degree of source pollution.
He observes: “Air pollution in Sri Lanka comes mostly from the Indian subcontinent and other areas, and impacts the health of our citizens as well as tourism.”
The Central Environment Authority (CEA) and National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) are working together to establish an integrated air quality monitoring (AQM) system to monitor airborne pollution daily. Since air pollution is a transboundary issue however, a coordinated global and regional approach is needed.
PLASTIC TRASH Jasinghe explains: “We emphasise the ‘three R’ strategy – reduce, reuse and recycle – but would like to eliminate the consumption of plastics wherever possible.”
He adds: “Currently, we have banned five types of single-use plastics including string hopper plates, forks, knives, stirrers, straws, plates, cups, yoghurt spoons and polythene garlands in Sri Lanka. Any sachets that are less than 20 millilitres thick have already been banned.”
The main aim is to increase waste recycling, and this has spurred the Ministry of Environment to join hands with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and private sector to set up Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), which are connected to collectors and recyclers who will take them to recycling plants.
When it comes to water pollution, the most polluted parts of rivers are in the Western Province, which is more industrialised and populous. The CEA issues the Environment Protection Licence (EPL) to certify whether the effluents meet the standards.
“Unfortunately, since illegal activities are taking place and polluted water is being dumped into rivers, it is difficult to control the presence of effluents,” Jasinghe laments.
He continues: “This is compounded by the financial constraints faced by government organisations in the stringent enforcement of regulations. If illegal activity is detected however, the CEA will suspend the licence of that company.”
With regard to soil erosion, Jasinghe says that measures are needed to safeguard and conserve the upper watershed of the country, in areas such as the Central and Uva Provinces among others – because most rivers originate from these locations.
Furthermore, certain harmful agricultural practices are also leading to soil erosion and some reservoirs need to be desilted.
ESG PRACTICES Environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles are growing in importance among the corporate sector and Sri Lanka Climate Fund. The latter – which is technically a private entity under public service – works with the corporate sector to measure carbon footprints, and verify and issue verification certificates.
The National Cleaner Production Centre is also working with the private sector to instil sustainable production and consumption processes. This means producing goods in a sustainable manner by using environmentally-friendly methods and materials.
Sri Lanka is exploring the use of green tools such as ‘debt for nature’ swaps, and green and blue bonds, which are earning billions of dollars for some countries. The cabinet has agreed to the development of a green and blue framework. Meanwhile, some work is also being done in terms of debt for nature.
Finally, one of the best practices to mitigate climate change will be to reduce Sri Lanka’s dependence on fossil fuels by accelerating investments in renewable energy.
Jasinghe notes: “From the government’s perspective, preserving the environment is of paramount importance as the island’s main economic sectors depend on its good health. As such, climate change has to be managed through a sustainable developmental approach.”
The interviewee is the Secretary to the Ministry of Environment in Sri Lanka.
