Climate and environment

By Verangika Upananda Sri Lanka’s climate strategy, historically weighted toward mitigation, can no longer afford to treat adaptation as secondary. For years, Sri Lanka’s climate narrative has centred on reducing national emissions, transitioning to renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and aligning with global decarbonisation targets. However, the scale and speed of the destruction caused by…

Written by Eng. Plnr. Ananda Gamage Sri Lanka has endured a relentless series of climate-driven disasters over the past decade, floods that submerged entire towns, landslides that swept away villages and homes, cyclones that uprooted livelihoods, and droughts that parched farmlands. Cyclone ‘Ditwah’ exposed the country’s fragile infrastructure and underscored how unprepared Sri Lanka remains for intensifying climate extremes. A deeper truth which…

By Verangika Upananda   Sri Lanka’s national commitment to generate 70% of its power from renewable sources by 2030 stands as one of the region’s most ambitious policy goals. It reflects both a necessary response to global climate obligations and a pragmatic strategy for national energy security, particularly given the acute vulnerability to global fuel price volatility exposed…

By Verangika Upananda Earlier this year, a nationwide blackout was famously triggered when a monkey entered a substation, highlighting the grid's continued instability. Blackouts, unpredictable supply, and the constant uncertainty of policy decisions demonstrate that Sri Lanka’s energy system is still struggling to keep pace with its ambition to achieve 70% renewable energy by…

By Kashia Dias   Although a conversion to wind power might sound essential to future-proofing Sri Lanka’s energy systems, the extension of a wind power plant in Mannar has faced opposition by residents, who claim it threatens their environment and livelihoods.   At the beginning of August this year, the second phase of the Mannar…