Ensuring Sustainable Development in Post-conflict Sri Lanka

When liberal economic reforms were first introduced to Sri Lanka in the late 1970s, the approach was forward looking, introducing appropriate policies to tackle possible adverse environmental impacts too. Legislative enactments such as the National Environment Act of 1980 and the Marine Pollution Prevention Act and the Coast Conservation Act of 1981 covered terrestrial and marine coastal environments. However, the path toward sustainable development has since been marred by numerous shortcomings and failures, reflected in the erratic progress on economic reforms. Sri Lanka’s environmental challenges are closely connected to the economic policies pursued by successive governments. While many of the current environmental issues can be traced to liberal economic policies adopted in the late 1970s, an accumulated burden carried over from the early period of colonial rule has also contributed its share of damage even today. Adverse environment conditions are intensified by key underlying drivers of population growth, urbanization, industrialization, agricultural modernization, commercialization of rural economies, and rising uncertainty of climate change in post-conflict Sri Lanka. Prospects of accelerated economic growth call for greater attention to issues of sustainability. Its success depends largely on identifying and implementing innovative policies for effective management of a country’s natural capital stock. This chapter charts Sri Lanka’s path to achieve sustainable development in the post-conflict era, and argues that achieving that objective remains an elusive goal as ever in the country.