Climate change emerging as new face of poverty in Sri Lanka: CEPA

Prof. Sirimal Abeyratne
PIC BY PRADEEP PATHIRANA

Sri Lanka’s poverty challenge is evolving beyond income deprivation, with climate change and environmental vulnerabilities emerging as new drivers of economic hardship, Senior Economist and Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) Executive Director Prof. Sirimal Abeyratne said.
He noted that the country’s recent crises had exposed how fragile the past development gains were and highlighted the need to build stronger resilience against the recurring shocks.
“Poverty is not just a lack of money; it is the lack of opportunities, lack of security and lack of dignity,” Prof. Abeyratne said.
He was speaking at the International Conference on Poverty and Development in Times of Crisis, organised by the CEPA last week.
While Sri Lanka had reduced poverty sharply over the past two decades, he acknowledged the economic and sovereign debt crises had pushed the country back towards conditions seen nearly 25 years ago.
“At the time that the CEPA was established in 2001, one in four in this country at least was considered to be poor by the official poverty statistics. Then we saw a rapid decline over two decades, reaching around 4 percent, if you look at the poverty headcount index in 2019. But suddenly, facing a series of calamities, a series of external shocks, economic crisis, sovereign debt crisis and then today, we find ourselves again more back to where we were 25 years ago.”
Prof. Abeyratne warned that Sri Lanka’s earlier development gains had proven “too shallow and too vulnerable to external shocks”, while stressing that “new dimensions of poverty have also emerged, such as climate change and biodiversity”.
He said countries across the region had demonstrated how stronger resilience frameworks and preparedness could help societies withstand recurring external shocks, lessons Sri Lanka must now adopt as it plans for the future.
“It is not simply about reducing poverty numbers but reducing poverty by creating opportunities in a sustainable manner, building stronger economic resilience to external shocks and creating a conducive environment to move forward with more equitable and inclusive growth,” he said.
Prof. Abeyratne also called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, private sector organisations, development partners and communities to address poverty through evidence-based policymaking.
The conference, organised to mark the CEPA’s 25th anniversary, brought together policymakers, researchers, development practitioners and international partners to discuss poverty and development challenges amid the growing global uncertainty. (SAA)