UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT (CSTD), twenty-first session Geneva, May 2018

Transcription

1 UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT (CSTD), twenty-first session Geneva, May 2018 High-level roundtable on The role of science, technology and innovation in supporting sustainable and resilient societies Statement submitted by Hon. Dr. Sarath Amunugama Minister of Science, Technology and Research Sri Lanka Monday, 14 May 2018 DISCLAIMER: The views presented here are the contributors' and do not necessarily reflect the views and position of the United Nations or the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

2 Statement 21s' Annual Session of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development (CSTD) May 2018 High-level Session on "the Role of Science, Technology and Innovation in Supporting Sustainable and0resilient Societies" b7 By Hon. Dr. Sarath Amunugama, Minister of Science, Technology and Research of Sri Lanka 14 May 2018, Geneva The Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva

3 "The role of science, technology and innovation in supporting sustainable and resilient societies". Director-General, UNCTAD, Director, CSTD, Chairman and members of the CSTD, distinguished delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, I am happy as Minister of Science, Technology and Research of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to represent my Government at the High Level Political Forum of the 21st session of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and present to you my Government's view on the role of Science, Technology and Innovation in supporting sustainable societies. I would like to share with you how Sri Lanka is mobilizing Science Technology and Innovation in addressing the five development challenges goals identified by your Secretariat. Goal 6. Clean water and Sanitation: Sri Lanka has a relatively high national coverage for access to improved water supply and sanitation, at 84 and 86 per cent respectively and 80-85% of our schools also have access to clean water and sanitation. There are however some areas of concern. Parts of the northern and eastern provinces which have still not reached normality after the 30-year war, remote rural areas and some of the plantation population do not receive quality water and have deficiencies in sanitation, which are presently being addressed by my government. The government is also concerned about the spread of Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Aetiology among agricultural communities in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. There is evidence that water quality is involved and the government is making substantial investments both on scientific research into the causes of the disease and on supplying clean water to the affected areas. Sri Lanka is fortunate in that it can draw on the knowledge and experience of the International Institute of Water Management (IWMI), which is headquartered in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Goal 7. Affordable and Clean Energy Sri Lanka is the first South Asian country which has achieved over 98% electrification and is able to provide its citizens with uninterrupted power with rare exceptions. It is the 39th greenest country producing around 34% of its energy requirements in 2016 from hydropower and 13% from non-conventional renewable energy, mainly mini-hydro, wind energy, biomass conversion and solar. The government is providing incentives for nonconventional renewable energy generation including payments for small scale household solar generation transferred to the national grid though net-metering. Our Ministry is also investing in research on next generation dye and quantum dot

4 desensitized solar cells for increased conversion efficiency and on the development of low cost energy storage devices. Our Ministry is also funding a five year Solar Edu- Training and Development Project begun in 2017 in collaboration with four Universities and Sivananthan Laboratory, USA, to develop a highly skilled workforce in the areas of solar technology research, development, manufacturing and installation in Sri Lanka. This programme organizes workshops with stakeholders, the training of a work force of 2000 youths and research & development projects for prototype manufacturing of Solar Panels in Sri Lanka. using Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities Like most of the developing world, Sri Lanka is facing the problems of increased urbanization. The government has embarked on a programme to provide apartment style modern housing for inhabitants or slums in Colombo in order to eliminate slums and improve the living condition of its people. It is also facing the challenge of providing environmentally friendly methods for garbage disposal and our Ministry is funding research in this area. We have also embarked on expanding city sewage systems by undertaking a new sewage project in our second biggest city, Kandy. We are also investing in highway development to connect our cities and reduce travel time. One of the problems Colombo faces is the increased susceptibility to flooding due to indiscriminate building programmes and inadequate draining, a problem which our Municipalities are attempting to tackle using modern science and technology. Goal 12: Sustainable Consumption and production The Sri Lankan cabinet has decided to replace Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) with Strategic Environmental Assessments (SEAs). SEAs take a holistic approach when assessing environmental impacts and the government is encouraging the training of experts for conducting SEAs. The Ministry of Science, Technology and Research has been providing services for water treatment plants to deal with effluents released by industry and is also funding research which monitors and recommends procedures to improve air quality in our cities Goal 15 - Life on Land Sri Lanka is a biodiversity hotspot with a quarter of its flora being endemic to the island. While our flora have been revised about two decades ago, our fauna have not been as intensely studied. We are therefore encouraging research on discovering new species and classifying them and have had much success in amphibians, insects and spiders so far. We are actively ensuring protection of endangered species both plants and animals by drawing up red lists. The country is also actively protecting its biodiversity by

5 preventing smuggling and trade. We have also embarked on research on developing useful products from these sources. We have also encouraging research into reforestation, particularly reintroducing the natural forest flora rather than new species and have had many accomplishments in this area although forest cover has been degreasing over the years. Forest Cover is presently at around 29% and we are happy to state that the deforestration rate has decreased sharply during the past decade compared with the annual % loss which prevailed. The country is also researching and taking active measures in reducing humanelephant conflict and also the capture and domestication of elephants. It is also struggling to deal with its monkey population. Thank you