ADB to help Sri Lanka realise its aspirations on climate investments

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) launched a programme yesterday to support the government of Sri Lanka to prepare an integrated climate responsive investment portfolio comprising a pipeline of bankable green investment opportunities.

This was announced by Takafumi Kadono, ADB Country Director at an event hosted by the Bank at ITC Ratnadeepa Hotel in Colombo.

It turned out to be a historic workshop in Sri Lanka since the country signed the much touted Paris Agreement on Climate Action because it was a ‘programmatic session’ where local environment experts were subtly challenged to come up with home-grown green projects to attract local and foreign investors by presenting a convincing climate resilient economic narrative where investors would dare put their money in.

The ADB may have its own ideas for Sri Lanka in this regard with its regional experiences, but the Bank’s intention at the workshop was to find out whether the local experts also had valuable inputs to expand the investment scope with sectoral perspectives from fields such as Agriculture, Water, Energy, Transportation, Tourism etc.

In a nutshell, the forum focused on identifying full scale ready-to-invest projects for climate change adaptation and resilience building.

The following are some excerpts from the speech made by the Country Director of ADB.

“It is an honour to join you at the national inception workshop to launch the ADB regional technical assistances programme focused on “Sustaining Climate and Disaster Risk Resilient and Low Carbon Development in South Asia”.

“Sri Lanka is one of six countries supported by TA9700. This high-level gathering resonates deeply with my personal and professional values. This workshop is a critical platform to amplify public sector voices leading the combat against climate change, a planetary emergency we can no longer ignore. Climate change is regarded worldwide as an overarching development challenge. It can seriously affect economic growth, food security, public health, cultural heritage, social stability, migration, and even the national security of countries.

‘Sri Lanka is a negligible contributor to global warming. However, as a nation, we are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, which include increases in the frequency and intensity of disasters uch as droughts, floods and landslides, variability and unpredictability of rainfall patterns, increase in temperature and heat stress; sea level rise, and salinity intrusion among others. Living and coping with uncertain impacts of climate change is no longer a choice; it is an imperative. Sri Lanka needs to address climate change adaptation to ensure that its economic development can continue without disruption or setbacks, so that investments in poverty reduction, food and water security, and public health will not be undone. Given the severity and the far-reaching impacts of climate change affecting every aspect of our lives and our nation, our response must be integrated, sustainable, just, and inclusive”.

“We share a common goal of securing the transition to net zero emissions and a climate-resilient future both of which are critical to sustainable development and economic growth. Responsive measures such as decarbonization, climate change adaptation, and resilience building are all essential; and achieving this transformation across the development sectors, requires horizontal cooperation among the stakeholders, development partners and strong public and private finance commitments. Sri Lanka now has a unique opportunity to rebuild from the pandemic and economic recession and secure a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable future. We need strong commitment from the Government of Sri Lanka and unwavering cooperation among partners to make this happen. Sri Lanka can lead by example. ADB will fully support the Government of Sri Lanka through our sovereign and private sector operations, technical assistances, and knowledge partnerships.”

“This workshop is the beginning of an extensive consultation process to the views of a wide range of stakeholders on how we can develop an integrated climate responsive investment plan for Sri Lanka”, he said.