Many islands affected by climate change 

Extreme weather patterns can be traced back to a large extent to human activity for not paying respect to the environment. "We are clearly reaching a point where things can become extremely unpleasant and catastrophic for future generations,” said Dr. Indrajit Coomaraswamy, Governor of the Central Bank, at the public lecture delivered by Pavan Sukhdev, Founder, GIST and Goodwill Ambassador, UNEP on the topic of the “Importance of Corporate Green Accounting for Sustainable Development and Moving Beyond GDP” at the Central Bank Auditorium on Thursday.
The Governor said however there is still a window of opportunity whereby one can take remedial action to overcome this problem by building a sound date base. “First and foremost we need to know facts at the ground level to formulate policies that can address this mounting threat to the lives of human beings." 
He said already there are large numbers of people affected by the impact from climate change. There are islands in the Pacific and in the Maldives which are beginning to experience the negative effects of rising sea levels. Even countries like Bangladesh can face devastating consequences. "The time is right for us to move decisively on the subject. Sri Lanka was among the first batch of countries to sign the Paris declaration and we are committed to this as a country at the highest political level," he said.
Referring to Mr. Sukhdev, he said he was a leading voice on sustainability issues and is widely recognised as an experienced innovator who has an influential role on national and environmental issues as well as among international institutions. (JJ)