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An intelligent climate policy

07 Nov 2022

President Ranil Wickremesinghe left for Egypt yesterday (6) to participate in the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), as well as the UN Food Security and World Leaders Summits. At the COP27, the President is expected to deliver a speech, and as a nation, we can only hope that his speech includes a persuasive request to the international community to support Sri Lanka’s endeavours aimed at protecting its environment. The President is attending this conference at a time when Sri Lanka is struggling to deal with a number of environmental issues, including increasing deforestation and pollution, many of which environmentalists say are yet to receive adequate attention from the Government and the authorities. Even though the pressure of the economic crisis has to a great extent diverted the country’s attention from environmental issues, reports point out that so far in 2022, cases have been filed against 136 persons for allegedly damaging the environment. This is in a context where the Central Environmental Authority’s (CEA) hotline has received over 1,000 complaints, most of which are related to air pollution, one of the leading factors of climate change.  It is high time that Sri Lanka seeks international support or intervention regarding several ongoing environmental challenges that also entail economic aspects.  The first is the drawn-out process of securing compensation for the MV X-Press Pearl disaster. Even though it has been reported that the Government has decided to file suit against the company that owns the vessel, the public, and environmentalists in particular, appear to have lost hope about receiving adequate compensation. On one hand, a plethora of allegations have been levelled against the Government and the environment authorities since the very beginning of this process for not being efficient and firm enough. On the other hand, various irregularity/incompetence-related allegations are now being levelled against the environment authorities. Environmentalists had recently claimed that if Sri Lanka was properly compensated for the MV X-Press Pearl disaster, the proceeds would have considerably alleviated the country’s economic situation.  Secondly, despite having been repeatedly emphasised in various contexts, the country is yet to take tangible steps to make use of debt-for-nature swaps. It goes without saying that debt-for-nature swaps would help the Government not only alleviate the burden of its massive debt mountain, but would also support and encourage it to pay serious attention to environmental conservation. This has been pointed out by local and even international bodies as an ideal option for a country like Sri Lanka that is rich in natural resources.  In this context, the President should request the international community’s assistance to deal with the MV X-Press Pearl disaster in a more effective and transparent manner, in order to obtain maximum compensation. It would not be difficult, given the urgent need to address the environmental damage that disaster caused, the importance of Sri Lanka’s marine resources as far as the economy and environment are concerned, and the country’s inability to fund such a project in the current economic situation. What is more, the President should also make his speech an opportunity to urge the international community to assist Sri Lanka to obtain debt-for-nature swaps, and convince them that the Government is capable of following through on such commitments. While environmental conservation should not be based merely on monetary benefits, if environmental conservation could help the country monetarily, that is not an opportunity Sri Lanka can afford to miss. The Government must be wise enough to seize such opportunities, but it also must prove honest enough to ensure their implementation.


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