Lanka geared to face climate change risks

By Dhaneshi Yatawara

Sri Lanka's close proximity to the equator is vital in understanding the severity of climate change. Countries near the equator, receive additional sunlight with less area to heat up, causing the temperature in the region to be warmer than the North or South poles, where the distance from the sun is greater and the heat from the sun in spread over a much larger area.

Promoting green energy

Floods, an adverse effect of climate change

Drought resilient paddy cultivation

Severe floods, such as the one that displaced 90,000 people in Mozambique in 2008, are now common in Africa and Australia. Europe and North America are getting intense downpours that could be devastating. Melting ice in the Arctic is not only affecting the polar bears, but already changing the culture and livelihoods of indigenous people in Northern Canada.

It's about everything from melting ice, threat to animals and plants and hunger, disease, drought, flooding, refugees and war - which seems to be getting worse.

Being an island of 65,610 square kilometers close to the equator, climate change will drastically alter the climate conditions of Sri Lanka. As climate change occurs, Sri Lanka will undergo widespread effects of climate change including, climate variability and sea-level rise, directly affecting the abundance and security of endemic species.

Not only the environment is affected but also the agriculture sector will face chaos in the face of climate change. Over 70 percent of our people depend on agricultural activities for their livelihood. It is being observed that the night temperature in Nuwara-Eliya has gone up and weather in Nuwara Eliya will not be suitable for cultivation.

Sri Lanka experienced heavy rains and longer periods of droughts last year. This type of weather patterns are expected to continue in the future. The rate of sea level rising has increased. It has increased by 1.7mm per year from 1870 to 2010 and 3.28mm per year from 1993 to 2011.

This could cause problems to island states such as Sri Lanka as coastal areas could be submerged. Climate change has already affected agriculture, human health, eco-systems on land and in the oceans, water supplies, and some people's livelihoods. Much of the extreme weather that wreaked havoc in Asia, Europe and the Pacific region last year can be blamed on human-induced climate change, according to the World Meteorological Organisation.

Global warm will affect peaceful co-existence. There is a link between warming temperatures and violence and rise in food prices, depletion of water resources, health hazards and decline in economic growth.

Scientists are still studying the full extent of the climate change impact on Sri Lanka. Yet there is a growing concern that climate change can threaten or reverse the significant achievements the country has recorded in increasing incomes and poverty alleviation, the Sri Lanka Climate Change Secretariat in its report on National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Sri Lanka 2011-2016 revealed.

Sri Lanka's climate variability has increased. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a report which states that the effects of climate change are already occurring in all continents and across the oceans. The report says that the world is not prepared for climate change risks. The IPCC is the international body for assessing the science related to climate change. It was set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organisation and the United Nations Environment Program to provide policy makers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation. Sri Lanka is a member of this international body.

Disaster resilience

In such a backdrop Economic Development Ministry and UNDP Sri Lanka marked the launch of its project under the Environmental Sustainability and Disaster Resilience Program 'Strengthening the Resilience of Post Conflict Recovery and Development to Climate Change Risks in Sri Lanka'.

The project seeks to address the climate-related problems posing a serious threat to the government's objective of developing rural economies to bridge the urban-rural income disparity.

The project aims to provide necessary technical and financial support to the Rural Development Unit and the Divi Neguma Department of the Ministry of Economic Development to safeguard the investments made in uplifting the rural livelihoods against climate related disasters and environmental changes.

"This has longer term perspective for climate change. When we were trying to launch a program to enable Sri Lanka to face the climate change consequences, we found that in the Sri Lankan strategy there were few areas of priority - particularly agriculture and water," UNDP Acting Assistant country Director (Environment) Tharuka Dissanaike said.

The UNDP was looking for a more grass-roots based made to convey these concepts. A proper mechanism that would truly reach the areas and people who were actually affected, said Dissanaike.

It is in this context that the rural development programs launched by the Economic Development Ministry - particularly the Divi Neguma and the Gama Neguma programs came in handy to achieve the objectives.

As the Climate Change Secretariat stated in the strategies for adaptation, Sri Lanka needs to adapt to climate change to ensure that its economic development could be sustained without setbacks to investments on poverty reduction, food and water security and public health.

Water managements

This program will be adding to the services extended by the Divi Neguma and Gama Neguma programs and the authorities believe that whatever the practices already implemented will be enhanced. This environmental sustainability and disaster resilience program will guide the implementers in managing water and land.

This will focus on building models of climate change adaptation in Puttlam, Kurunegala and Ratnapura.

It will include developing institutional capacities to assess risk, design corrective measures and implement adaptation actions with community participation. To realise this, the project will work with a range of technical partners- such as the Departments of Agriculture, Agrarian Services, Irrigation, and Livestock and the Disaster Management Centre.

"When we were planning the program we had to think where were the most affected areas before investing. There are certain districts that could withstand damage in terms of economy and society though they face natural disasters. The program had to give priority to those districts," she said.

In association with the Department of Agriculture the project carried out a vulnerability analysis using globally recognized tools.

Through this exercise twelve districts were prioritised. And we will be doing a programs in all twelve districts. The first three districts will be models," she added.

Education on climate change is vital to minimize carbon dioxide emission and mitigate the impact of adverse weather conditions.