Climate-related shocks could slow down SL econ growth
View(s):Sri Lanka will be among South Asian countries hard hit by climate change and this could undermine efforts to overcome poverty and increase economic growth, according to a new scientific report released this week by the World Bank Group.
An expected 2°C rise in the world’s average temperatures in the next decades will impact island economies such as Sri Lanka with extreme weather and rising sea levels. Visionary political will is needed to change the current trajectory of climate change impacts on growth and poverty reduction efforts. New technological solutions and international cooperation are a must to adapt to and mitigate climate change related disasters, says the report.
It is expected that out of all countries in South Asia, the southernmost tip of India and Sri Lanka will be most affected by rising temperature. In these areas, 20 to 30 per cent of summer months are expected to experience unprecedented heat. With South Asia close to the equator, the sub-continent would see much higher rises in sea levels than higher latitudes, with the Maldives confronting the biggest increases of between 100-115 centimetres. The consequences on livelihoods and health could be disastrous warns this scientific report. Disturbances to the monsoon system and rising peak temperatures put water and food resources at severe risk. “An extreme wet monsoon, which currently has a chance of occurring only once in 100 years, is projected to occur every 10 years by the end of the century,” it said.
“In Sri Lanka, we recently witnessed the havoc wrought on communities, especially those living on the coast, by extreme bad weather and this could only get worse with the accelerating effects of climate change,” said Ivan Rossignol, acting Country Director for Sri Lanka and the Maldives. “The World Bank Group is integrating climate risk mitigation into the designs of its investment lending operations to ensure sustainability of projects in Sri Lanka” said Mr. Rossignol. He gives the examples of recent World Bank projects such as the Metro Colombo Urban Development Project (MCUDP) that aims at flood and drainage management and the Dam Safety and Water Resources Planning Project (DSWRP), which has incorporated climate/weather proofing of water resource management into its project design.
The report, prepared for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics, says the consequences for South Asia of a warming climate are even worse if global temperatures increased by an average of 4°C by 2090. In this scenario, seen as likely unless action is taken now to limit carbon release in the atmosphere, South Asia would suffer more extreme droughts and floods, rising sea levels, melting glaciers, and declines in food production.
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