Climate change stakeholder engagement forum on Thursday

The ‘Stakeholder Engagement Forum on Climate Change’, organised by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS), will be held on Thursday (24 May) at the Dr. Saman Kelegama Auditorium, Colombo 7.

IPS said climate change is undeniably a significant challenge for sustainable development in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka faces three types of changes. Namely the gradual increase in ambient air temperature, changes in the distribution pattern of rainfall, and increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events. All major economic sectors of the country are vulnerable to impacts of these changes in the climate, though the nature and magnitude of the impacts may vary across sectors. In the case of Sri Lanka, adaptation should be the key strategy for facing the impacts of climate change.

Sri Lanka has taken several positive policy steps in regards to climate adaptation. The National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change Impacts for Sri Lanka 2016 – 2025 (NAP) is one of the key policy steps, which is central for the implementation of climate adaptation activities in many sectors at the national level. While the implementation of the NAP is already ongoing, there are many areas which need further policy attention. Comprehensive research-based inputs are vital in this regard.

Climate Change is an important thematic area of research at IPS. Over time, IPS has done a number of policy-oriented research studies covering important aspects of climate adaptation in Sri Lanka. IPS is also directly involved in policy formulation in relation to climate adaptation in the country. However, there are yet important areas that need policy attention in facing the threats of climate change.

In this background, the Stakeholder Engagement Forum on Climate Change is intended to consult key stakeholders regarding gaps in policy interventions and identify priority areas for policy research in climate adaptation. The deliberations of the Forum would be directly useful for shaping the climate adaptation research agenda at the Institute which may lead to collaborative research studies in the future.

The first part of the Forum aims to present an overview of climate adaptation in Sri Lanka and share the insights from IPS’s research on climate adaptation. The second part aims to identify the future policy priorities and research needs for strengthening climate adaptation in Sri Lanka.

Senior Advisor to the President Prof W.L Sumathipala will be the Chief Guest. IPS Research Fellow, Head Environmental Economic Policy Unit Dr. Athula Senaratne will introduce the IPS Climate Change Research Program. IPS Executive Director Dr. Dushni Weerakoon will also address the Forum. 

The event will have a working group session with group work focusing on cause and effect analysis of climate adaptation, key policy priorities and future research needs followed by group presentations.