Sri Lanka fully committed to coping with climate change

Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Sunday voiced his country's full commitment to dealing with climate change and taking great efforts to minimize risks of possible environmental hazards.

President Maithripala Sirisena made the statement while addressing the UN Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, a three-day event which began here Friday.

"Sri Lanka will be fully committed to dealing with the 13th Sustainable Development Goal relating to climate change," the president said. "We will strive to minimize risks of possible environmental hazards."

The Sri Lankan president believed that a proper study is required to ascertain how climate change aggravates Sri Lanka's contemporary development challenges such as poverty alleviation, food security, increased aging population and natural disasters.

To tackle climate change is one of the 17 targets contained in the Sustainable Development Goals, which was adopted by world leaders here Friday to serve as the blueprint for the global sustainable development efforts for the next 15 years.

"Sustainable development cannot be achieved by a single country alone," he said. "Our strategy will therefore envisage a framework for cooperation between the United Nations, regional organizations and other states."

Source: XINHUA