“SL has unique opportunity to rebuild from economic crisis”

Takafumi Kadono,
Country Director, ADB

With its strong commitment from the government of Sri Lanka and unwaverable cooperation among partners to make it happen, Sri Lanka now has a unique opportunity to rebuild from the pandemic and economic crisis and secure a prosperous inclusive, resilient and sustainable future, Takafumi Kadono, Country Director, ADB told the National Inception Workshop which saw the launching of TA9700: Sustaining Climate and Disaster Risk Resilient and Low Carbon Development in South Asia program in Sri Lanka yesterday in Colombo.

“Sri Lanka can lead by example. ADB will fully support the government of Sri Lanka through its sovereign and private sector operations, technical assistance and knowledge partnerships. Our country partnership strategy for the next five years for the period 2024 to 2028 which was approved in March this year focuses on supporting Sri Lanka’s recovery from the economic crisis aiming to restore macroeconomic stability and foster long term sustainable growth. We have three strategic objectives: strengthening the public financial management and governance, fostering private sector development for green growth and improving access to climate smart public services in Sri Lanka,” he said.

Kadono said this is the launch of the initial technical assistance program focused on sustaining climate and disaster risk resilience and low carbon development in South Asia. Sri Lanka is one of the six countries supported by this TA. He said climate change is a threat multiplier to social economic development agenda and measures to address climate change must be fully integrated into all efforts to develop the economy.

“We share a common goal of securing the transition to net zero emissions and a climate resilient future, both of which are critical for sustainable development and economic growth in Sri Lanka. Responsive measures such as decarbonisation, climate change adaptation and resilience building are all essential in achieving this transformation across the development sectors and this requires horizontal cooperation among the stakeholders, development partners and strong public and private finance commitments.

Kadono said climate change is regarded or accepted worldwide as a development challenge. It can seriously affect economic growth, food security, public health, cultural heritage, social stability, migration and even national security of countries. As a nation Sri Lanka is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change which include the increase in the frequency and intensity of disasters such as droughts, floods, landslides, unpredictability of rainfall patterns, increasing temperature, heat stress and sea level rise.

“You all see in the data how vulnerable the country is in global ranking and at the same time how unready Sri Lanka is to address these vulnerabilities. Sri Lanka needs to address climate change adaptation to ensure that its economic development can continue without disruption or setbacks, so that investment in poverty reduction, food, water, security and public health would not be impaired, “he opined.

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