Sri Lanka- Second National Communication
Project Overview
The creation of a National Communication offers countries the opportunity to contribute with technically sound studies and information that can be used for designing mitigation and adaptation measures, and project proposals that can and will help increase their resilience to the impacts of climate change. Activities generally include: V&A assessments, Greenhouse Gas Inventory preparation, Mitigation Analysis or Education, and awareness raising activities.The ultimate goal is the integration of climate change considerations into relevant social, economic and environmental policies and actions
Key vulnerabilities identified in Sri Lanka's Second National Communication (2011):
- Agriculture/Food Security
- Coastal Zones and Marine Ecosystems
- Water Resources
- Public Health
Project Details
Key adaptation measures identified in Sri Lanka's Second National Communication (2011):
Agriculture/Food Security
- Develop heat tolerant rice varieties as well as salt-tolerant rice varieties through plant breeding
- Reduce irrigation water losses
- Practice aerobic rice cultivation
- Introduce lowland rice cultivation with saturated soil instead of continuous submerged soil
- Practice economically viable options
- Adjust present cropping calendar
- Provide accurate seasonal weather forecasts to possibly reduce losses due to weather variability
Public Health
- Need for building awareness of the impacts of climate change on health
- Communication for behavioral change
- Educating favorable practices and support for inculcating and adopting these strategies
- Review current policies and formulation of new policies related to health implications of climate change
Coastal Zones
- Incorporate climate change concerns in town and country planning and wetland conservation programmes
- Accommodate seal level rise in the design of new coastal structures
- Design and cost new water intakes giving due consideration to sea level rise
- Prepare ground water extraction regulation policy
- Incorporate greater consideration of climate change impacts in the next revision of the Coastal Zone Management Plan.
Key Results and Outputs
- Sustainable development and the integration of climate change concerns into medium- and long-term planning
- Inventories of anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases
- Measures contributing to addressing climate change
- Research and systematic observation
- Climate change impacts, adaptation measures and response strategies
- Education, training and public awareness
Reports and Publications
Assessments and Background Documents
Monitoring and Evaluation
In 1992, countries joined an international treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to cooperatively consider what they could do to limit average global temperature increases and the resulting climate change, and to cope with whatever impacts were, by then, inevitable.
Parties to the Convention must submit national reports on implementation of the Convention to the Conference of the Parties (COP). The required contents of national communications and the timetable for their submission are different for Annex I and non-Annex I Parties. This is in accordance with the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" enshrined in the Convention.
The core elements of the national communications for both Annex I and non-Annex I Parties are information on emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and details of the activities a Party has undertaken to implement the Convention. National communications usually contain information on national circumstances, vulnerability assessment, financial resources and transfer of technology, and education, training and public awareness.
Since 1994, governments have invested significant time and resources in the preparation, collection and validation of data on GHG emissions, and the COP has made determined efforts to improve the quality and consistency of the data, which are ensured by established guidelines for reporting. Non-Annex I Parties receive financial and technical assistance in preparing their national communications, facilitated by the UNFCCC secretariat.