The Government of Sri Lanka revised and submitted its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) in July 2021 to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, as a required obligation being party to the Paris Agreement, and developed the NDC Implementation Plan (2021-2030) with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)’s Climate Promise Phases I & 2.
The global community is critically off track on SDG 13: Climate Action, and for Sri Lanka, attaining the goal comes with its own challenges. To take stock of Sri Lanka’s progress, the NDCs National Steering Committee Meeting took place recently, chaired by Prabath Chandrakeerthi, Secretary, Ministry of Environment, together with the participation of Secretaries and Representatives from Government Ministries, Institutions across 09 adaptation sectors and 06 mitigation sectors covering Power, Transport, Industries, Waste, Forestry, Agriculture, Fisheries, Livestock, Water, Biodiversity, Coastal and Marine, Health, Urban planning and Human settlements and Tourism and Recreation, along with the Loss & Damage sector.
The meeting re-emphasized the need for enhanced coordination and collaboration to optimize available resources and capabilities for maximum impact to reach Sri Lanka’s commitment to reducing emissions by 14.5% (4% unconditional and 10.5% conditional in the Business-As-Usual scenario).
The NSC serves as the national monitoring mechanism for implementing the NDCs in Sri Lanka. In close coordination with UN agencies, UNDP will continue to support national efforts to review and enhance their climate targets, aligning them with the 1.5°C goal.
These plans will be made more inclusive and investable, responding to decisions from the global stocktake. The next two years represent our best opportunity to ensure global warming remains below 1.5°C through increasingly ambitious and fully implemented NDCs 3.0.