Sri Lanka participated in COP. 27 & current news. – By Dr Harold Gunatillake
Website: www.Doctorharold.com
SL successfully concludes the second round of talks with creditors:
President Ranil Wickremasinghe meets UN Secretary-General
President Ranil delivered a direct speech at the sessions.
COP27: Sri Lanka proposes the world’s first International Climate Change University
‘Democracy Gold Award’ was awarded to Mr R. Sambandhan
Former opposition leader and Member of Parliament Mr R Sambandhan received the
‘Democracy Gold Award’, given only once in a lifetime to a senior political figure who
dedicates himself to securing democracy.
Thieves broke into the official residence of the Thai ambassador
Looming food shortage and farmers’ woes
Sri Lankan people in need of emergency aid has doubled – UN
COLOMBO (News 1st) – State Minister of Finance Shehan Semasinghe said Sri Lanka’s second round of discussions with creditors concluded successfully. The State Minister added that Sri Lanka has agreed to deal with all creditors
transparently. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka and the Ministry of Finance have communicated that they will work with the creditors to provide them with the necessary information and clarifications. Minister said that the IMF Board of Directors would grant its approval as soon as Sri Lanka obtains assurance from its creditors, and these discussions are vital for the process. Sri Lanka expects to receive assistance from the IMF by the end of 2022.
President Ranil attended COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh.
President Ranil Wickremesinghe met with Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres on the sidelines of the COP27 Climate Change Conference. According to the President’s Media Division, President Wickremesinghe briefed Guterres on Sri Lanka’s plans for the National Environment Policy. President Wickremesinghe left for Egypt last week to attend COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. He is also set to address the summit. Overall Summary of the National Environmental Policy and Strategies aims to ensure sound environmental management within a sustainable development framework in Sri Lanka. This Policy is supported by many other policies and strategies developed for different sectors.
What is COP27?
They are called COPs, for “Conference of the Parties”. The parties are the attending countries that signed up to the original UN climate agreement in 1992.
COP27 is the 27th annual UN meeting on climate. It is taking place in Sharm el-Sheikh until 18 November. “The salubrious environs of the green city of Sharm El-Sheikh will undoubtedly inspire our discussions at COP 27 to a successful conclusion, said President Ranil Wickremasinghe in the opening words of his speech at the sessions.
The world is warming because of human emissions, mainly from burning fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal. Global temperatures have risen 1.1C and are heading towards 1.5C, according to the UN’s climate scientists, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
If temperatures rise 1.7 to 1.8C above 1850s levels, the IPCC estimates that half the world’s population could be exposed to life-threatening heat and humidity. To prevent this, 194 countries signed the Paris Agreement in 2015, pledging to “pursue efforts” to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C.
United Nations (UN) climate summits are held yearly for governments to agree on steps to limit global temperature rises. World leaders are discussing action to tackle climate change at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. It follows a year of climate-related disasters and broken temperature records.
COP27: Sri Lanka proposes the world’s first International Climate Change University
COLOMBO (News 1st) – Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe proposed establishing an International Climate Change University in Sri Lanka with an ancillary institute in the Maldives to counter obstacles in implementing climate action plans.
He spoke at the COP-27 Conference in Egypt on Tuesday (8) and noted that the institution would be the first of its kind in the world. “This seat of learning can be a global centre for green and blue studies, for scientists, environmentalists, researchers, policymakers, development practitioners, and students the world over to inter-change knowledge, transcending national and disciplinary boundaries,” said the President.
This is only an abridged version of his direct speech at the sessions. Looming food shortage and farmers’ woes
Many predict that Sri Lanka will be on the verge of famine due to an imminent food shortage in Sri Lanka by 2023. However, an acute food crisis is possible in the coming year.
According to K. B. Gunaratne –who at one time headed the programme ‘’Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu’’ (Let us grow and uplift the nation) and also functioned as Director of Agriculture, Sri Lanka had faced two famines in the past. One was the Beminitiya Seya resulting from a severe drought that lasted six months. The other occurred during the Second World War when food ships were obstructed. Gunaratne said there was no famine in Sri Lanka after those two episodes predicting that Sri Lanka will not face a similarly difficult period in the future either.
Sri Lankan people in need of emergency aid has doubled – UN
The United Nations says the number of people needing emergency humanitarian assistance in Sri Lanka has doubled.
Warning about a worsening food crisis in Sri Lanka, the organisation points out that the number of people needing emergency aid has doubled to 3.4 million.
United Nations agencies had estimated in June that 1.7 million of the country’s 22 million people needed aid.
In a joint statement, the UN agency in Colombo said that it had raised $79 million to feed the needy but needed an additional $70 million because of the growing number of poor people.
The announcement states that ‘food insecurity in Sri Lanka has increased rapidly due to two consecutive seasons of poor harvest, shortage of foreign exchange and reduced domestic purchasing power. The overall situation in the country is gradually improving, and hoping that when the tourists start coming during the winter seasons in Europe, there should be more activity and prosperity in the country. I hope you liked watching this video presentation.
Stay safe and goodbye for now,
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