Saturday Oct 25, 2025
Saturday Oct 25, 2025
Saturday, 25 October 2025 01:28 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Andrew Patrick yesterday said Sri Lanka’s new National Climate Finance Strategy 2025–2030 will help the country access international climate funding and attract investors to climate-related opportunities.
He said the strategy was a critical step for the Sri Lankan Government to meet due diligence requirements and plan for the medium-term economic impacts of climate change.
“There are some very obvious and very serious ones for Sri Lanka in terms of your agricultural sector and your tourism sector, which depends on biodiversity. Both of those are threatened by the impacts of climate change,” he said.
Patrick said the UK has been a central contributor to global climate finance and continues to support Sri Lanka through its Climate Action for Resilient Asia program. “Without a climate finance strategy of this kind, it is much harder for the Government to access those funds,” he said.
He added that Sri Lanka was also well positioned to benefit from renewable energy investments, especially in wind power, where the UK has supported offshore and onshore development initiatives. “Sri Lanka has huge capacity to generate offshore wind power,” he said.
Patrick also outlined other UK-supported projects, including work with IMI on groundwater salinity in Jaffna and regional initiatives to improve climate forecasting and disaster preparedness. He said better prediction systems have already reduced casualties from extreme weather events despite the increase in climate-related crises.
“The British Government is proud to be working with the UNDP and the Government of Sri Lanka on this very important agenda,” he said, adding that international collaboration will be key to turning climate risks into long-term investment opportunities.
