Workshop on Climate Insurance for Dry Zone Farmers in Sri Lanka

The IPS organized a workshop to disseminate the findings of a study titled ‘Climate Insurance for Dry Zone Farmers in Sri Lanka’ at the IPS Auditorium on the 24th of January 2017. The study was financially and technically supported by the Global Development Network (GDN).

Professor Mohan Munasinghe, Founder Chairman, Munasinghe Institute for Development (MIND) was the Chief Guest of the event. He highlighted the impacts of climate change on the society, specifically on the agriculture sector.

The welcome address was made by Dr. Saman Kelegama, Executive Director, IPS. Dr. Kelegama highlighted that it is timely to take appropriate actions in terms of climate adaptation and highlighted IPS’s contribution towards policy formulation.

Dr Daniel Osgood, Lead Scientist, Financial Instruments Sector Team, International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Earth Institute, Columbia University, USA, delivered the Keynote speech of the workshop. While speaking on the experience of climate insurance in the developing countries, Dr Osgood mentioned that Sri Lanka has a potential for developing climate insurance as a risk management strategy.

Kanchana Wickramasinghe, Research Economist, IPS, who is the principal researcher of the project, presented the key findings and policy implications.

The workshop was attended by a number of experts from insurance, agriculture, climate change, etc., sectors representing government, non-government, civil society, and private agencies and academia.