Lanka should adapt to global warming - Nayana Mawilmada

by P. Krishnaswamy

Strategic Planning Specialist, Nayana Mawilmada, a Harvard post-graduate, who has just completed a landmark ADB funded project as leader of a team of environmentalists on ‘Strategies to Combat Climate Change in Sri Lanka’ and other related issues spoke to the Sunday Observer in an interview on the fast changing climate patterns due to global warming , its impacts on our island-nation and measures for protection and adaptation that need to be initiated.

Excerpts of the interview:

Q: We have had extreme weather patterns in the recent years causing repeated natural disasters. Can we, as country take steps to avert this condition?

A: These are due to global warming. In my opinion Sri Lanka is so small on a global scale that our emissions contributing towards it are negligible. So whatever we may do to contribute our share to the global efforts on reducing greenhouse effects and gas emissions, we, as Sri Lankans, should concentrate more on our self-interest. Regardless of what we do locally, the impacts of global warming are going to hit us whether we like it or not. We have no choice but really think about how we adapt ourselves to this changing global phenomenon.

What we now see are weather events happening more frequently and intensely. What kind of change it will bring for us and what we have to do is a matter for serious contemplation. We have to think of how we adapt ourselves including our lifestyles, our industries and the other various factors to survive and prevail in the face of them .

Q: You say that our contribution to global warming is very negligible implying that the affluent industrial nations are responsible. It is not their responsibility to help us financially or otherwise to successfully encounter this problem?

A: I think they should. There have been discussions on this on a global level. But my thinking is that we cannot afford to be complacent and wait for others to do something about it. We have to take our own initiative and start looking at how we adapt.

Q: What are your suggestions?

A: We have been working on a project funded by the ADB to develop a national strategy for climate change adaptation . We looked at a cross-sector of various critical areas. For example Sri Lanka’s drainage system is a huge problem. The drainage system was designed according to standards for projection of rainfall that was last updated in 1984. So basically we have under-designed our drainage system. We have not built adequate capacities for the intensities of rain that we are now receiving. So we need to update these standards and the drainage system has to be upgraded accordingly with more capacity. The same applies for our roads and other industries.

Q: Rain waters inundating roads, residential areas, impairing vehicular traffic and causing disruption to daily life has been our experience in Colombo since recent years. Your suggestions for proper water management?

A: I think managing the water in the city is a major problem because our settlements have encroached into former catchment areas. For example Battaramulla was one big marsh formerly. So there has to be more holding capacity for water and I am sure that the Government has already started to address this problem. We need to look at the whole city as a system and see what we can do given the higher intensities of rainfall. The question is what are the major moves that could me made to help the city to adapt itself to higher rainfall scenarios.

Q: What are your suggestions for averting the impacts of climate change on our tourism industry and agriculture?

A: Not only tourism and agriculture, the extreme weather conditions cut down across several other sectors also. As far as tourism is concerned Sri Lanka is in an interesting point of time because we still are just emerging. We have started to pump lots of money, lots of investments into it. So we have an opportunity to make sure that the tourism sector and all infrastructures going with it are built resilient to climate change.

Take tourist hotels for example. We now know that there will be sea level rise. So hotels should be built resilient to sea level rise, either on a higher elevation or away from the coastal belt. We can work out guidelines to ensure that these industries are protected in the event of extreme climate change.

We also have to give the farmer alternatives. What are the alternatives that they can access very quickly including other varieties of paddy and crops that withstand changing weather patterns. They must be imparted awareness and education on alternative ways and means of living with the changing climate conditions.

We know that there are global trends of more extreme weather events. We see it all over the world and we see it in Sri Lanka. So my assertion is that we have to learn to live with it. That is the way of the future. We cannot stop the rain but we can adapt our economy, our people, our settlements and our houses to cope with it. As a small country we have no choice but to begin giving priority to make sure that our infrastructures are covered.

Q: Will the yields in paddy and plantation crops be affected according to your assessments?

A: Actually paddy cultivation will be affected very much. There is no conclusive research on the other sectors and more research has to be done. But we do know that paddy production will be affected by both extremes, floods as well as drought, which will happen as a result of climate change. We are experiencing floods and we will also experience increase in the frequency and intensity of drought.

Q: What are the alternatives that you suggest?

A: We must introduce drought and flood resistant varieties of rice for Sri Lanka. Successful pilot schemes are already being done in some parts of the country. This has to be scaled up in areas that we know are extremely flood-prone. Farmers should be given facilities to supplement their production.

Q: What are the other major areas for concern?

A: We will see sea level rise but that is a long term process. We will also see surge of storms and sea erosion. The history of cyclone in Sri Lanka is limited but globally the intensity and frequency of cyclones are increasing . Food security is another important concern to be addressed. Look at the perspective of how the country gets food in the face of climate change. We have productions once in a while. As to how we buffer them is an important matter. We are going to have rains. Strategic plans should be formulated to protect our plantation industries, our roads and our transport infrastructure. Also it should cover protection of our national resources and bio-diversity. We are moving in the direction of rapid economic development. So these are important areas to be evaluated and addressed.

Q: The ADB has reportedly sounded a warming that Asians must prepare for large scale migrations seeking safer havens due to extreme weather patterns. Your comments on it with regard to Sri Lanka please?

A: Migration is an interesting issue. There is a whole lot of discussions on climate refugees and so on. We have issues with regard to people relocating. We already have some settlements in landslide-prone areas. We also have problems in the fishing settlement areas which are on the coast and very vulnerable to sea erosion. We have communities living in areas that are perpetually being flooded. So we have a smaller scale of the same problem. As these weather conditions continue to intensify probably we will start to see small trickles of population movement around the country.