ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka needs a green economy, and the government is drafting new legislation which will deal with the environment and climate change, President Ranil Wickremesinghe has said.
“We are already drafting a new law, which will deal with the environment and climate change.”
“How we can adapt to climate change, how we can combat climate change, is certainly a matter of importance for all of us. You know what it has been like in the last few days, walking around in the city. And this is just a sign of things to come.
Wickremesinghe was speaking at the inaugural session of the Sri Lanka Climate Summit, hosted by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, on the theme “Climate Action for our Nation and the Planet.”
The summit aims to assess potential disruptions to critical sectors of the economy and deliberate on policy reforms necessary for transitioning towards a low-emission, climate-resilient economic framework.
“We can’t carry on with this economic model, which certainly hasn’t worked. We have to transform ourselves into an export-oriented economy and a highly competitive economy. For this purpose, the government will be introducing legislation in parliament, which will ensure that all government policies focus on the transformation to a highly competitive export-oriented economy. In fact, the bill will most probably be gazetted next week.
“One of the items in the bill is to ensure that we achieve net-zero by 2050.”
“So in making our policies, which are going to affect all of you, not merely a transformation of an economy into export orientation, but into an economy that is based on achieving net-zero. So that’s how we are going to work this out.”
Wickremesinghe said that some countries have different laws, but Sri Lanka would bring one law which will handle both environment and climate change.
“It retains the Central Environment Authority but will also bring in the Climate Change Centre. In the process of drafting, I’ve asked the officials, in doing so, let us as far as possible, follow the Climate Change Act of the UK, which I think is a good one and it puts the burden on the government and the minister to act on the advice of the Climate Change Committee and to table the regulations in Parliament.”
“We have to have a green economy. So green financing, and the whole aspect, the commercial and economic aspects become important. That’s where the Chamber of Commerce has an important role to play. We will promote the green economy. We will give priority to promoting a green economy. We might as well be the first in the region to do so. We are small enough to do that. And, our development, I hope, all of you will focus on seeing how we can succeed in becoming a green economy.
“Part of this will depend on how we structure our new financial instruments. One reason for following the Climate Change Act of the UK is that it has been well accepted by the financial circle. So we will ensure that our green financing, the different options available, are certainly based on the same practices as the UK. The rest is how do we get these instruments together? What do we do?
“Well, that’s why I think the Chamber of Commerce, the Stock Exchange, our investment ministry all should come together. So that’s one area that will have to be developed once we announce the details of our policy on climate change. I would want it to cover every sector of the economy.
“We might as well start from the beginning. We need not be looking at different sectors and sequencing it. We are small enough, and where we are, we can start on all sectors together.” (Colombo/May8/2024)
