National Environmental Policy and Strategies

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Category: Executive

Document Type: Policy

Role: Main

Sri Lanka's National Environmental Policy and Strategies, August 2003

The National Environmental Policy and Strategies of Sri Lanka, published in August 2003 by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, establishes a framework for environmental care and sound environmental management across the nation. Its primary purpose is to ensure that economic development, while necessary to raise living standards and meet basic needs, is pursued sustainably, keeping the use of natural resources within sustainable levels and preventing excessive environmental damage from waste. The policy's scope is broad, applying to all organizations and individuals who utilize environmental resources or whose activities have an impact on the environment. Key obligations include exercising environmental care, implementing sound environmental management practices, and incorporating environmental strategies into development programmes. The policy is intended to guide environmental strategies relevant to different sectors of development and the strategic approach for managing natural resources. While the provided text does not list specific affected sectors, it indicates the policy applies across 'all sectors of development'. No specific deadlines or compliance dates are mentioned in the provided text. The document itself is titled 'National Environmental Policy and Strategies'. The full document, according to a human summary, also contains references to climate change, greenhouse gases, and renewable energy, although these specific topics are not detailed in the provided excerpt.

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Full text:

NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
AND STRATEGIES
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
"Sampathpaya"
Rajamalwatte Road,
Battaramulla,
Sri Lanka.
August 2003

FOREWORD
We, in the developing world, are compelled to pursue a course of economic development that
will raise the living standards of our people and ensure that all segments of the population
have access to their basic needs. In doing so, we inevitably use natural resources and produce
waste. This would be acceptable so long as the use of natural resources is kept within
sustainable levels and the waste products do not cause excessive damage to the environment.
This could be achieved if all of us, in whatever sphere of activity we are involved, ensure that
we exercise good environmental management and environmental care.
In the past, although environmental policy concerns have been taken into account in several
development programmes, incorporation of environmental safeguards into development
activities still fell far short of what is required, signaling the need for declaring a National
Environmental Policy.
The National Environmental Policy, set out here, makes it incumbent on all organizations and
individuals who use environmental resources or whose activities have in impact on the
environment to exercise environmental care and sound environmental management.
This document also sets out the outcomes that we should eventually aim to achieve in relation
to the environmental resources through the effective application of the policy.
Implementation of environmental policy places a responsibility on all sectors of development
to incorporate environmental strategies into their development programmes. Accordingly,
environmental strategies relevant to the different sectors have been included. Likewise, the
strategic approach for ensuring sound management of the natural resources has been
presented. Finally, the role of civil society in maintaining the integrity of the environment has
been emphasized.
In drafting the National Environmental Policy and other related sections, maximum
stakeholder participation was ensured.
Thosapala Hewage
Secretary
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources
18th August 2003

1. The Need for a National Policy on the Environment
Sri Lanka's landscape, vegetation and climate, and its people, had once blended to form an
island of incredible beauty and serenity, and the country was called Serendib. Much of this
has changed over the past few centuries, particularly in the past few decades. It is the people
that have brought about these changes. Sri Lanka's population, now reaching 19 million,
places the island among the most densely populated countries in the world, and a good
proportion of the population live in poverty. These are the most potent underlying factors that
have brought about the changes in Sri Lanka's environment, threatening to undermine the
nation's natural resource base. The nation's effort to advance its pace of development, while
maintaining the essential freedom of the people to make choices, had had adverse impacts on
the four primary natural resources, the land, water, atmosphere and living resources, and on

Tags: Compliance, Development, Energy Demand, Energy Supply, Governance, Institutions / Administrative Arrangements, Natural Resources, Policy, Regulation, Research And Development, Transport

Sector: Energy

Original Source