Sri Lanka ranked as one of the highly
climate change affected countries
Realizing the impending necessity to address the impact of climate change on the Sri Lanka nation, the Sri Lankan Government has collaborated with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank to develop a national adaptation strategy to mitigate the negative effects of a changing climate.
“The
world, unlike in the past, has become severely vulnerable to natural
disasters,” President said. “Almost every day, we see millions
of people becoming victims of severe floods, landslides, volcanoes,
cyclones, earthquakes and the like. As a country we alternatively
experienced both drought and floods. It has become increasingly
difficult
for affected countries to manage unassisted, the post disaster recovery
programmes. The recent natural calamities in our region underline the
crucial need for effective action, in which there is collective
participation, to reduce human suffering. So without doubt, climate change
and global warming are today issues which demand the urgent attention of
all nations.”
According
to a report released by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) in 2013, approximately 70 percent of the coastlines worldwide are
projected to experience sea level change. The IPCC’s fifth assessment
report says if average global temperatures increase by approximately
four degrees Celsius, sea levels could rise as much as 1 m by
2100, with catastrophic results.
Given
this reality, world leaders who will meet in New York at the Climate
Summit on the 23rd of September 2014 are expected to find measures to
maintain the rate of global warming below two degrees Celsius.
Although,
today, climate change has become a global issue, the countries that are
most affected are those that have contributed least to the problem.
Sri
Lanka, being an island nation, cannot escape the realities the threats
of climate change pose. In its capacity, the Government formulated the
“National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy” with the
assistance from the ADB to increase Sri Lanka’s resilience to climate
change impacts whilst pursuing sustainable economic development.
Sri
Lanka has also repeatedly underscored the need to practice social
equity at the international level, especially on matters related to
climate change.
“The
disproportionate pollution of the environment by industrialised
countries, and the resultant impact on global warming and climate
change, cannot be remedied with any semblance of justice by imposing
harsh restraints on developing countries, which have contributed very
little to aggravation of the problem'.
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