High Commissioner Kariyawasam leads the Sri Lanka delegation to the
Delhi Ministerial Dialogue on Green Economy and Inclusive Growth
The Delhi Ministerial Dialogue on Green Economy and Inclusive Growth, co-hosted by the Government of India and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development was inaugurated on 3 October by the Minister of State for Environment and Forests of India, Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan. The Delhi Dialogue aims to support the preparations for Rio+20 by providing a platform for international deliberations on opportunities for a green economy to reinforce countries’ poverty eradication and social development agendas including through enhancing good security and energy security of the poor. Government officials and delegates from 54 countries and 12 UN agencies are attending the two day Conference.
Leading Sri Lanka’s delegation to the Conference, High Commissioner Prasad Kariyawasam stated that Sri Lanka has had an unbroken record of sustainable resource consumption conceived and implemented based on Buddhist and Hindu cultural concepts dating back two-and-a-half millennia. Therefore, Sri Lanka has been fortunate to have escaped man-made environmental problems in any significant proportion until the latter quarter of the 20th century. Unfortunately, with the transition from an agricultural economy to industry, rise in population and increasing consumerism, Sri Lanka is now experiencing several environmental issues that have an increasingly negative impact on sustainable development endeavors.
High Commissioner Kariyawasam informed the gathering of the green growth initiatives Sri Lanka has adopted to hasten the country’s journey towards achieving sustainable development and economic growth such as the establishment of the National Council for Sustainable Development, the Green Lanka Programme to evolve long term plans for sustainable economic and social development, the enacting of an Environmental Conservation Levy Act to secure financial resources in environmental management, and the development of an index called “Sustainable Human Development Index” to interpret human development with ecological factors.
Referring to the high quality of life especially in education and healthcare in Sri Lanka and the many welfare programmes, the country has put in place to eradicate poverty and malnutrition, the High Commissioner said that in terms of natural resources and biodiversity conservation, Sri Lanka has maintained a satisfactory level of natural forest (23%) and tree cover (over 60% of land area). Moreover, in respect of climate change, Sri Lanka is in an insignificant position being a low carbon emission country with only 600kg per person per year. However, he regretted that despite having achieved a low carbon economy ensuring sustainable development, Sri Lanka has not received any significant global recognition and support in global mechanisms and processes of climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Click here to see full text of the statement made by the H.E. the High Commissioner
Ministry of External Affair
Colombo
October 04, 2011
