The Paris Agreement is an Opportunity for Sri Lanka

November 20, 2017        Reading Time: 5 minutes

Reading Time: 5 min read

Image Credit – Nomadsoul1 / depositphotos

Anishka De Zylva*

Introduction

The Paris Agreement is an unprecedented global commitment to combating climate change. Sri Lanka is one of 195 states¹ that adopted the Agreement in December 2015, and to date, 169 states² have ratified it, including Sri Lanka. President Donald Trump’s announcement that the US will withdraw from the Agreement threatened its viability by leaving a vacuum in climate change leadership. Fortunately, the European Union and China appear to have stepped in to fill this leadership vacuum in climate change. India and Japan have also shown leadership by keeping their commitment to the Agreement. Their combined resolve to continue the accord presents Sri Lanka with a window of opportunity to exploit the benefits of the Paris Agreement, while demonstrating Sri Lanka’s own commitment to the accord and its regional leadership on climate change.

Sri Lanka’s Opportunities

First, the Paris Agreement is a new opportunity for development aid. Under the Agreement, Sri Lanka has already obtained financial assistance of around USD 38 million³ from the Green Climate Fund and around USD 262 million⁴ from the Green Environmental Facility. However, the government could increase Sri Lanka’s access to “climate finance” by emulating the El Salvadoran example. In El Salvador, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is developing a database of climate finance opportunities.⁵ Sri Lanka could start with a similar initiative to improve awareness and gain access to other sources of funding, such as the Adaptation Fund (USD 350 million)⁶ and Climate Investment Funds (USD 8.3 billion).⁷

Second, the Paris Agreement is a business opportunity for Sri Lanka, particularly to attract more investment. Sri Lanka performs relatively poorly compared to other Asian economies in attracting foreign investment (see Figure 1).

According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Paris Agreement could create investment opportunities worth USD 23 trillion⁸ in emerging economies by 2030. China, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam are projected to have a ‘green’ investment potential of USD 16 trillion (mainly in green buildings and sustainable transport).⁹ Similarly, India and Bangladesh are projected to have a green investment potential of USD 2.2 trillion (mainly in climate-resilient infrastructure).¹⁰

To attract green or “climate-smart investment,” Sri Lanka could channel its own public finances into sustainable infrastructure and transport initiatives. It should also consider moving the responsibility of climate change away from the Ministry of Environment to a ministry with a broader, coordinating role. In Colombia, for example, the government shifted the responsibility of climate change policy from its Ministry of Environment to its National Planning Department.¹¹ A similar action in Sri Lanka could more efficiently incorporate the country’s commitments under the Paris Agreement into national development plans.

Third, the Paris Agreement is an opportunity for behavioural change. Since, Sri Lanka is not a major emitter (see Figure 2) the government should encourage sustainable behaviour among consumers and producers to keep future emissions low. Sri Lanka could accomplish this through economic incentives for sustainability, like carbon pricing.

The IFC reported that around 40 countries are pricing carbon¹² — including seven of the 10 largest global economies — and that corporate carbon pricing is growing in regions like China, South Korea, and Europe. To advance the use of economic incentives like carbon pricing, Sri Lanka could gain from global resources like the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition. This coalition assists the development of well-designed carbon pricing systems in countries around the world, and is creating an evidence base for policymakers to identify the most effective carbon pricing systems and policies.¹³

Fourth, the Paris Agreement is an opportunity for stronger and more beneficial ties with China and India. Both countries are expected to exceed their targets ¹⁴ under the Agreement and are no longer viewed as obstacles to climate change efforts. They have successfully reduced the cost of renewable energy technology through large investments in solar and wind power, and are attempting to shift away from coal power.¹⁵ China also houses five of the leading six solar panel manufacturers and five of the leading 10 wind turbine makers in the world.¹⁶ Sri Lanka could learn from these innovations, especially since many developing countries cannot easily afford renewable energy,¹⁷ and Sri Lanka committed to 100 percent renewable energy generation by 2050¹⁸ at the 22^nd Climate Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco in 2016.

Conclusion

In conclusion, to fully benefit from the Paris Agreement, Sri Lanka’s efforts must go beyond ratifying and submitting information on its contributions under the accord. Sri Lanka must actively seek financing; identify global trends, innovations and best practices in combating climate change; and develop new international partnerships to engage those trends, innovations and practices. Given the expected scale and potential impact of climate change, including in Sri Lanka, this is not an opportunity to miss. The country’s future as a sustainable hub in the Indian Ocean may even depend on it.

Notes

¹United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2017). The Paris Agreement – Status of Ratification. Available at: http://unfccc.int/paris_agreement/items/9444.php

²Ibid.

³Green Climate Fund. (2017). Projects and Programmes. Available at: https://www.greenclimate.fund/-/strengthening-the-resilience-of-smallholder-farmers-in-the-dry-zone-to-climate-variability-and-extreme-events-through-an-integrated-approach-to-water-?inheritRedirect=true&redirect=%2Fprojects%2Fbrowse-projects

⁴Global Environment Facility. (n.d.). Sri Lanka. Available at: https://www.thegef.org/country/sri-lanka

⁵Tirpak, D., Brown, L. and Ronquillo-Ballesteros, A. (2014). Monitoring Climate Finance in Developing Countries: Challenges and Next Steps. World Resources Institute. Available at: http://www.wri.org/sites/default/files/wri13_monitoringclimate_final_web.pdf#page=16

⁶The World Bank. (2017). Adaptation Fund. Available at: http://fiftrustee.worldbank.org/Pages/adapt.aspx

⁷Climate Investment Funds. (2017). What We Do. Available at: https://www.climateinvestmentfunds.org/about

⁸International Finance Corporation. (2016). Climate Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets: An IFC Analysis., p. vi. Available at: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/51183b2d-c82e-443e-bb9b-68d9572dd48d/3503-IFC-Climate_Investment_Opportunity-Report-Dec-FINAL.pdf?MOD=AJPERES#page=10

⁹International Finance Corporation. (2016). Climate Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets: An IFC Analysis., p. 14. Available at: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/51183b2d-c82e-443e-bb9b-68d9572dd48d/3503-IFC-Climate_Investment_Opportunity-Report-Dec-FINAL.pdf?MOD=AJPERES#page=26

¹⁰International Finance Corporation. (2016). Climate Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets: An IFC Analysis., p. 48. Available at: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/51183b2d-c82e-443e-bb9b-68d9572dd48d/3503-IFC-Climate_Investment_Opportunity-Report-Dec-FINAL.pdf?MOD=AJPERES#page=60

¹¹Tirpak, D., Brown, L. and Ronquillo-Ballesteros, A. (2014). Monitoring Climate Finance in Developing Countries: Challenges and Next Steps. World Resources Institute. Available at: http://www.wri.org/sites/default/files/wri13_monitoringclimate_final_web.pdf#page=6

¹²International Finance Corporation. (2016). Climate Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets: An IFC Analysis., p. 104. Available at: https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/51183b2d-c82e-443e-bb9b-68d9572dd48d/3503-IFC-Climate_Investment_Opportunity-Report-Dec-FINAL.pdf?MOD=AJPERES#page=116

¹³2016-2017 Carbon Pricing Leadership Report. (2017). Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, p.10. Available at: http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/183521492529539277/WBG-CPLC-2017-Leadership-Report-DIGITAL-Single-Pages.pdf#page=10

¹⁴The New York Times. (2017). China and India Make Big Strides on Climate Change. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/opinion/paris-agreement-climate-china-india.html

¹⁵Coca, N. (2017). Asia and the Fall of Coal. The Diplomat. Available at: http://thediplomat.com/2017/06/asia-and-the-fall-of-coal/

¹⁶Stern, N. (2017). China is Shaping Up to be a World Leader on Climate Change. Financial Times. Available at: https://www.ft.com/content/3f1ba5ba-ddac-11e6-86ac-f253db7791c6

¹⁷Cusi, A. (2017). For Developing Asia, Balance is Needed in Climate Change Fight. South China Morning Post. Available at: http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2081083/developing-asia-has-balance-climate-change-fight-energy

¹⁸Wijayatunga, P. and Soezer, A. (2017). Achieving Sri Lanka’s Vision for 100% Renewable Electricity by 2050. Asian Development Bank Blog. Available at: https://blogs.adb.org/blog/achieving-sri-lankas-vision-100-renewable-electricity-2050

---

^*Anishka De Zylva is a Research Associate at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKI). This article was originally published by the LSE South Asia Centre on 9 November 2017. All errors and omissions remain the author’s. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own views. They are not the institutional views of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute or the LSE South Asia Centre, and do not necessarily represent or reflect the position of any other institution or individual with which the author is affiliated.