Drought
Apr 28, 2026

Powering through Droughts and Crises: Redesigning Sri Lanka’s Energy Resilience

Sri Lanka has lived with energy insecurities for decades. Today, the crisis is a structural problem that is no longer limited to mere episodes. The country’s electricity system sits at the intersection of three converging vulnerabilities. Firstly, the system relies on a bimodal rainfall pattern that makes hydropower inherently boom-and-bust. Secondly, Sri Lanka has a near-total dependence on imported fossil fuels and limited use of other renewables, mainly rooftop solar, to fill the gaps. Thirdly, the country deals with an ageing grid infrastructure that is ill-equipped for the distributed energy future that could solve the problem.

Mar 13, 2019

Linking Disaster Risk Management into Economic Policy Planning in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka was ranked as the second most affected country by the impacts of weather-related losses in 2017, according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2019. Worryingly, the country’s situation has worsened since 2016. This highlights Sri Lanka’s vulnerability to climate impacts and the need for effective policies. The good news is that the 2019 Budget proposes several measures to improve Sri Lanka’s disaster resilience. In this blog, Kanchana Wickramasinghe discusses the challenges and gaps in disaster management and the ways in which Sri Lanka can improve its capacity to face these calamities.

Oct 13, 2017

Building Resilience for Climate-induced Disasters in Sri Lanka

While Sri Lanka marks International Day for Disaster Reduction on 13 October 2017, the country is still reeling from the natural disasters that took place in the recent past. In this blog, Kanchana Wickramasinghe argues, while Sri Lanka has taken essential steps towards disaster risk reduction (DRR), there are still gaps that need to be addressed. She notes that, first and foremost, resilient development should synergize DRR and climate adaptation at the national level.

Aug 01, 2017

A Mess as Old as Time: The Economic Cost of Natural Disasters in Sri Lanka

The recent floods in Sri Lanka, triggered by the monsoon rains, left a trail of destruction in its wake. However, natural disasters are nothing new to Sri Lanka. This blog analyzes the economic cost of devastating natural disasters that wrack the country time and time again and examines lessons for Sri Lanka from other Asian countries.