
President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the delegates to the summit.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe, while highlighting the Government’s commitment to crafting economic policies geared not only towards fostering export-oriented competitiveness, but also towards transitioning to a green economy, aiming to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, emphasised ongoing efforts to enact unified legislation addressing environmental protection and climate change.
He made these remarks while addressing the inaugural session of the Sri Lanka Climate Summit which commenced on Tuesday (7) at the Shangri-La Colombo as the chief guest.
Acknowledging the recent prolonged spells of extreme climate conditions as indicative of future climate change impacts, the President stressed the urgency of addressing climate mitigation measures promptly.
The inaugural Sri Lankan Climate Change Conference, hosted by the Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce, was conducted on the theme ‘Climate Action for our Nation and the Planet’.
Scheduled to run until May 9, the summit aims to foster a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted climate crisis, both from a global and a national standpoint. It seeks to assess potential disruptions to critical sectors of the economy and deliberate on policy reforms necessary for transitioning towards a low-emission, climate-resilient economic framework.
President Wickremesinghe while highlighting the nation’s proactive approach to combating climate change, announced the establishment of a dedicated Climate Change Centre in Sri Lanka and instructed officials to model legislation based on the United Kingdom’s Climate Act, endorsed by global financial institutions.
Climate Change University
The President emphasised the significance of Sri Lanka’s role in addressing climate change, particularly within the Indian Ocean and the tropical belt, and outlined plans for the International Climate Change University to be established in the country.
“It gives me great pleasure to be here with the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, primarily because the Chamber has been working with the Government on the current issue of climate change,” the President said.
He said that this summit is a long-felt need for Sri Lanka, for the business community to meet and discuss ways and means of combatting climate change.
“Since I took over as President, I have given top priority to climate change. In fact, I established the Climate Change Centre in my office and appointed an advisor. Until then, our focus has been on the environment. That doesn’t mean that we should take our focus away from the environment, but we must also realise the important role that climate change plays within it. If climate change takes place, as some of you fear, then the environment itself will change for the worse. Therefore, how we can adapt to climate change, how we can combat climate change, is certainly a matter of importance for all of us,” he noted.
While speaking on the country’s economy, the President said that it is a must to transform ourselves into an export-oriented economy and a highly competitive economy. For this purpose, the Government will be introducing legislation in Parliament, which will ensure that all government policies focus on the transformation to a highly competitive export-oriented economy. In fact, the Bill will most probably be gazetted next week.
“But I am not going to deal at length with the Bill, except to say that one of the inclusions in the Bill, in carrying out this transformation, is to ensure that we achieve net-zero emissions by 2050,” he said.
Climate Change Centre
“We are already drafting a new law which will deal with the environment and climate change. In some countries there are different Acts, but we decided that we will bring it together in one law which will handle both the environment and climate change. It retains the Central Environment Authority, but will also bring in the Climate Change Centre. In the process of drafting, I’ve asked the officials as far as possible to follow the Climate Change Act of the UK, which I think is a good one. It puts the burden on the Government and the Minister to act on the advice of the Climate Change Committee. So that is the legislative aspect that we are bringing in,” he said.
“Sri Lanka has to have a green economy. So green financing and its commercial and economic aspects become important. That’s where the Chamber of Commerce has an important role to play. It will give priority to promoting a green economy,” the President said.
“So part of this will again depend on how we structure our new financial instruments. One reason for following the Climate Change Act of the UK is that it has been well accepted by the financial circle. So we will ensure that our green financing, the different options available, are based on the same practices as the UK.”
Sri Lanka certainly has potential for renewable energy. If you look at our solar capacity and our capacity for wind power, we are looking at something in the region of 30 to 50 gigawatts.”
Selling energy to India
“Sri Lankans has a long way to go, but the vision statement we made with Indian Prime Minister Modi included Sri Lanka selling energy to India. So we have now agreed to have the connectivity. The largest battery storage facility in Asia is going to be constructed near Pooneryn.
Funding
“We were promised funding and all of a sudden all the money goes into Ukraine and Gaza and towards Taiwan. So remember that the developing world has to put up a fight. We have to put up a fight on one side and on the other side we must do all we can to develop it commercially.
“This is why in Sri Lanka I have promoted the concept of the tropical belt. After all, the tropical belt is the sink. So let’s identify every area in the tropical belt which is commercially viable as far as climate change is concerned for different projects. If the money is not coming to us as aid or a development, okay, let’s take the money in for commercial development of the environmental projects. But we will be pushing it at the next meeting or the Conference of Parties and in addition to that, IORA. Here we are studying the potential for the Indian Ocean.
“So take the tropical belt across the Indian Ocean and there you get the big sink you want. That is what Sri Lanka will be pressing and that will make a big change. The money is there. We have to get the money. If it’s not coming through the traditional development assistance, well there’s commercial potential, let’s exploit it. Why are we waiting? That’s what we require.
“Then with Sri Lanka also bringing the legislation, we’ve been speaking with some of the countries to establish the International Climate Change University for climate adaptation. We’ve already selected about 600 acres at the old Skanska camp and the surrounding area in Kotmale.”
President of IIT Madras Research Park Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, CEO of India Council for Energy, Environment and Water Dr. Arunabha Ghosh, Resident Representative for Sri Lanka at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Azusa Kubota, Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda, President of the Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce Duminda Hulangamuwa, President of the Steering Committee on Climate Action of the Sri Lanka Chamber of Commerce and diplomatic officials, representatives from foreign organizations, businessmen, and other dignitaries attended the event.
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