Climate change impacts trade, food security – Minister Yapa

Minister for the Environment Anura Priyadarshana Yapa, speaking yesterday at a seminar entitled, ‘Emerging Issues on Trade, Climate Change and Food Security: Way Forward for South Asia’ held at the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) Auditorium reiterated the impact climate change is having in South Asia.

Minister for the Environment Anura Priyadarshana Yapa addresses the seminar. IPS Executive Director Dr. Saman Kelegama, UNFCCC Climate Negotiator for the Maldives Amjad Abdulla, Former Foreign Secretary and former SAARC Secretary General Ambassador Nihal Rodrigo and SAWTEE Executive Chairman Dr. Posh Raj Pandey are also present

The Minister addressing the gathering comprised of academics, private sector, representatives of Civil Society Organisations and Media Personnel from across the South Asia region stated that “climate change is no longer just one of many environmental and regulatory concerns. It is the major, overriding environmental issue of our time.”

Minister Yapa went on to highlight the interdependent relationship that climate change has with trade in particular by saying that “there is a direct link between the effects of trade on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, trade opening could facilitate both the adoption of technologies that reduce the emission-intensity of goods and their production process and the change in the mix of a country’s production from energy –intensive sectors towards less energy-intensive sectors.” As a consequence of a rise in awareness of this relationship, the Minister stated that negotiators are working on the “reduction or, as appropriate, elimination of tariff and non-tariff barriers to environmental goods and services,” which would lead to the “improved access to more efficient, diverse and less expensive environmental goods and services on the global market, including goods and services that contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.”

The two day Seminar was organised by the IPS, the South Asia Watch on Trade, Economics, and Environment (SAWTEE) and Oxfam Novib. IPS Executive Director Dr. Saman Kelegama delivering the opening address, said that although the South Asian region has made very little historical contributions towards global climate change, the region has been and continues to be among the largest victims of its impacts. As per the available scientific evidence, he said that South Asia is one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change impacts in the world. After laying the foundations for what would be discussed and debated throughout, he stressed on the importance of using this seminar as a forum with which to develop the necessary advocacy tools in order to make a “tangible impact on policy makers in the region.”

Former Foreign Secretary and former SAARC Secretary General Ambassador Nihal Rodrigo; SAWTEE Executive Chairman Dr. Posh Raj Pandey and UNFCCC Climate Negotiator for the Maldives Amjad Abdulla also delivered opening speeches on the varying impact that climate change is having on the South Asia region in terms of trade, food security and general well being; the role of SAARC and the necessity to perpetuate regional cooperation; as well as the vital importance of multilateral initiatives, commitments and cooperation within the region.