Diving into the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) focused on Climate Action

The National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) was launched at the auditorium of the Ministry of Environment on the 19th of December, 2022. We published an article on the summary of the NEAP and the National Environmental Policy, which can be accessed here. This is a deeper investigation into the NEAP and a critical analysis.

The NEAP consists of 9 thematic areas,

Theme 1: Air Quality Management

Theme 2: Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable use

Theme 3: Climate Actions for Sustainability

Theme 4: Conservation and Sustainable Use of Coastal and Marine Resources

Theme 5: Sustainable Land Resources Management

Theme 6: Holistic Waste Management

Theme 7: Integrated Water Resources Management

Theme 8: Environmental Management in Cities and Human Settlements

Theme 9: Greening Industries

The NEAP provides an overview of the current status in the country; policy, legal and institutional context; a summary of the key materials reviewed related to each thematic area; and a detailed action plan based on different strategies under each thematic area.

In addition to these 9 thematic areas, three cross-cutting areas are included: Resource Mobilization, Implementation and Monitoring Arrangements, and Information and Knowledge Management for Green Growth.

What Climate Actions will SL take in the next decade?

This article will focus on the 3^rd Thematic area, Climate Actions for Sustainability. This section was compiled by Mr. Gamini Senanayake, Director of the Climate Change Secretariat at the Environmental Ministry. It includes 06 strategies and 121 actions to meet the expected objectives directed toward climate change.

Historically, Sri Lanka’s carbon footprint has been small, reading at 0.88 tonnes/per person. Its per capita emissions are among the lowest globally, especially for a middle-income, high-human development country; read more here  .  Moreover, Sri Lanka is more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change rather than contributing to it.

To address the challenges posed by climate change, Sri Lanka has introduced national policies, strategies and actions. The National Climate Change Policy of Sri Lanka (2012); National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Sri Lanka 2011-2016 (2010); Sri Lanka’s Second National Communication on Climate Change (2011); Technology Needs Assessment and Technology Action Plans for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (2014); the National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change Impacts in Sri Lanka 2016-2025 (NAP) (2016); and the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement for Climate Change Sri Lanka (NDC) (2016); submitted to the UNFCCC are some notable actions.

In addition to these, the NEAP has suggested the following strategies,

Strategy 1: Strengthen enabling environment through policy support, legal and institutional framework related to climate change.

Strategy 2: Assess vulnerability and build resilience to address the adverse impacts of climate change.

Strategy 3: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions through low-carbon development pathways.

Strategy 4: Manage losses and damages due to climate-induced disasters.

Strategy 5: Enhance national capacity by creating awareness, education, research and development, technology transfers, and information dissemination for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Strategy 6: Strengthen partnerships and resource mobilization for adapting to climate change impacts and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.

Strengthening policies and legal framework related to climate change.

The actions under the 1^st strategy include reviewing the existing National Policy on Climate Change and integrating climate change when formulating other policies in the country and the National Physical Plan. It also mentions adding an early warning system and an MRV (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification) system to policies. The NEAP, including climate action, will be executed on a provincial scale with an adaptation plan implemented by each province. In addition, there will be provincial climate cells and units to monitor the progress. Developing policies to include improved health systems, built environment, wastewater, transport (EST), and maritime transport are included. These actions mainly fall under the Ministry of Environment, but also several are supported by other government agencies.

Assess vulnerability and build resilience to address the adverse impacts of climate change.

Assessing and addressing the vulnerability of Sri Lanka to the impacts of climate change have been divided into sections, namely, generic, agriculture, biodiversity, coastal and marine, fisheries, livestock, health, tourism, human settlement, and water. Each section falls under the responsibility of the relevant government department and other selected stakeholders. It is essential to highlight that the coordination between these agencies needs to be strong to successfully build climate change resilience within the country, as each of these sections mentioned is interconnected.  The generic sector describes following through with the National Adaptation Plan 2016-2025.

Reduce greenhouse gas emissions through low-carbon development pathways.

The NDC in Sri Lanka sets targets to achieve 70% renewable energy within the country by 2050. In reaching this target, the NEAP has set actions in several categories. While the generic category highlights technological needs assessment for all priority mitigation sectors, other categories include actions in Energy, Industrial, Waste, Transport, Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock.

Manage losses and damages due to climate-induced disasters.

Loss and damage were a hot topic discussed at the COP27 held recently, where most parties agreed that rich countries should be held liable for the climate change impacts faced by most developing countries. In that view, the actions included in the NEAP for this particular strategy comprise understanding and quantifying the loss and damage faced by Sri Lanka due to climate change. In addition, it mentions improving the weather forecasting systems, as it was evident that several misinformation in this area had gone viral during the past years. Furthermore, improving data management considering 2015 as a base year, establishing a mechanism for “loss and damage” in line with the Warsaw International Mechanism, and developing a comprehensive risk management framework are included among the other actions taken to manage loss and damage in the country.

Enhance national capacity by creating awareness, education, research and development, technology transfers, and information dissemination for climate change mitigation and adaptation.

This strategy, aligned with the work done by Climate Fact Checks, has 10 actions.  These include establishing a national clearinghouse for related information, creating a national database and a network to transfer data for the benefit of target groups, building resilience in poultry and swine farming as well as the fisheries and aquatic resources via research, building the capacity of the water sector, Enriching the climate change concepts in the curricula of school, higher education and professional groups by giving more emphasis to real-life practical aspects and conducting national level awareness campaigns via print and electronic media.

Strengthen partnerships and resource mobilization to adapt to climate change impacts and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

This strategy has aligned actions to strengthen national and international partnerships, increase the participation of women, strengthen the participation of state and non-state actors, and mobilize national and international financial resources required to address climate change.

These actions fall under several stakeholders. However, the central controlling body will be the Ministry of Environment.

The Climate Fact Checks team also spoke to Dr. Shamen P Vidanage, from the University of Kelaniya, who co-authored and was among the 9 experts to compile the NEAP.

1. Several revisions must be made to existing policies; what shortcomings existed in those policies? Ex: National Policy for Climate Change.

“Many shortcomings were observed in biodiversity exploitation and climate change. Not properly giving value to the services rendered by biodiversity causes people to overconsume it. This is due to the lack of awareness and poverty where the right use of the funding directed towards mitigation is not achieved. 

Due to weak financial mechanisms and poor technology, global environmental facilities and access to resources have been limited.”

• The indicative budgets for several important actions like MSW (Municipality Solid Waste) management and Transport are yet to be estimated. Are these actions achievable without the required funding?

“Many of these actions may appear expensive, but in reality, they are not. According to a circular economy, simple actions are effective. Additionally, long-term investments need to be considered. This does not mean the country needs to depend on grants but rather share the responsibility among all citizens in the country.”

• Amidst an economic/food crisis, can Sri Lanka afford to fund the infrastructure development mentioned in the NEAP? For example, will sanitary landfills improve from 5% to 100% within ten years?

“The disposal of waste requires huge costs, which will create a much bigger impact on all of us. This needs to be looked at as an investment. Although, avoided cost is important, right actions bring long-term benefits for everyone. By looking at the cash flow or the equity, we need to find finances; that is where the problem is.  We need grants, but this does not mean it’s expensive. Rather the country needs the right kind of guidance and resource mobilization. Sri Lanka has many resources, so it is not as expensive as it may appear.”

• Considering some of the development projects have damaged the environment quite severely and possibly irreversibly (Moragahakanda Hydro Power plant and Human Elephant Conflict), will there be an improvement in EIA procedure in the future included in the action plan?

“The Mahaweli development project, which is the biggest developmental project, has several positive outcomes. Moragahakanda is a habitat for a fish species that can only be found in Mahaweli; they were translocated to another area. According to the feasibility, this is a huge project, but it is being done, although some improvements must be made.  The Sri Lankan EIA system has some limitations; although it is a wonderful tool, it needs to be conducted properly. Getting into a strategic environmental plan is better.”

• What is the degree of capacity building required nationally to implement the NEAP successfully?

“Chapters 3 and 5 are dedicated to implementing capacity building and resource mobilization. These are interconnected.  These chapters are particularly entitled to what capacity is required, monitoring and evaluation, those crosscutting areas are included, and that is the mechanism. Training and awareness are very much needed. It has also been highlighted in the NEAP. There are different entities and responsible agencies that need to play their part. With the crisis, people try to see these differently.”

• It was observed that Implementation and Monitoring strategies needed to be improved in the past. Accordingly, how can the country ensure the continuous monitoring of the actions stated?

“Yes, now NEAP is the document used by the country, and everyone needs to comply their actions with it.  As detailed in the chapters of the NEAP, several agencies need to work together. It is the responsibility of all the stakeholders. We can expect a positive change in resource mobilization and communication. I hope there will be some change. We need to have a clear vision and use it in the right way.”

• Has political influence been minimized when implementing these strategies?

“We all know what politicians did in this country, but you can’t blame only the politicians. They are the people’s representatives in democracy, and we elect them. That’s another question. We have National Policies or National Action Plans to provide guidance, and agencies are not necessarily to be government agencies. These policies have mentioned practices and actions that need to be placed.”

• Considering funding for Loss and Damage in developed countries was discussed at COP27 last year, can we hope for better funding to implement the NEAP?

“The mechanism will likely take place at the global level. How Sri Lanka reaches out to the countries liable will decide the level of funding we will get”