Adaptation and development in Sri Lanka

The Daily News (Sri Lanka): Sri Lanka has embarked on an ambitious new era of economic development, Environment and Renewable Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha said. He was speaking at the launch of the publication Climate Change Issues in Sri Lanka at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) on February 14. The minister said climate change has become a definite challenge to the society, a reality that all must accept.

“The Environment Ministry is spearheading our national effort to face this great challenge. As the Environment Minister, I find this as a good opportunity to interact with a group of stakeholders, whose professional contributions are very much useful for the successful implementation of national policies, programmes, projects and activities undertaken by the ministry,” he said.

Premajayantha said over the next decade, the island will be making major new investments in all sectors to overcome poverty and consolidate its status as a middle income country. “It has set ambitious national development targets. But climate change impacts, resulting from human-induced global warming, can delay or derail these plans; they can also make existing economic and socio-economic disparities worse,” he said.

“We are already beginning to see some of these impacts taking place -- they will get worse in the coming years and decades. To pursue our development agenda despite these pressures, we need an integrated approach to improve climate resilience in all sectors of economy and society,” the minister said....