Centre for Environmental Justice filed a fundamental right petition on 4th day of May 2022 at the Supreme Court against his Excellency the President, Gotabaya Rajapakse, Minister of Environment and others.

Over the years, Sri Lanka has had one of the highest deforestation rates of primary forests and also of its old-growth forest cover to accommodate human use. Today, Sri Lanka’s high temperatures, unique and complex hydrological regime, and exposure to extreme climate events have made the country highly vulnerable to climate change and its impacts.

Sri Lanka, in the year 2016 has signed the Paris Agreement to the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change; the legally binding international treaty on Climate Change. Sri Lanka, as a member of the United Nations and the Paris Agreement, is bound to take measures to enhance and elevate climate adaptation and mitigation of potential climate impacts. However, if Sri Lanka does not adhere to such legal responsibility under international law, the country will be subjected to international trade and various other restrictions and repercussions.

In Sri Lanka, the most common causes of increasing Greenhouse Gases are inter alia the massive use of fossil fuels and the exploitation of forests over the years. The largest source of GGE in Sri Lanka is the emission of Carbon dioxide (CO2), which enters the atmosphere and causes air pollution mostly due to human activities such as fossil fuel burning from electricity production, heat, transport and manufacturing industries.

In 2019, the total CO2 emissions from fossil fuels for Sri Lanka was 22.97 million tonnes, including 1.03 million tonnes from Cement, 16.19 million tonnes from Oils and 5.75 million tonnes from Coal. CO2 emissions from fossil fuels of Sri Lanka increased from 1.63 million tonnes in 1950 to 22.97 million tonnes in 2019 growing at an average annual rate of 3.91%. Accordingly, GGE has developed in different sectors over the years and significantly transport, electricity – heat and agriculture have released more than 5 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalents (CO2e), contributing to GGE.

Sri Lanka is recognised as vulnerable to climate change impacts due to a combination of political, geographical, and social factors and is ranked 103rd out of 181 countries in the Notre Dame-Global Adaptation Initiative Index 2018. Accordingly, the high vulnerability score of Sri Lanka places the country in a position where it requires greater adaptation, mitigation and immediate action to combat climate change and its impacts

Petitioners seeks from the Petition to take immediate actions to implement renewable energy plans by utilizing the rooftops, highway mounted solar energy generating systems and other compatible systems which are widely used by other countries, without damaging environmental services offered by the existing nature/ ecological system of the country, to enhance and expand the use of renewable energy rather than promoting thermal power plants, to act under and in terms of the National Environment Act.
Further, petitioners seek from the petition that the respondents to formulate strategies/mechanisms for climate change, to implement international conventions, to implement international conventions and to formulate mechanisms, international laws and policies in relation to climate change, to introduce strategic plan to popularize the use of electric vehicles, to make available the facilities and infrastructures to improve all modes of transportation and to discourage further use of vehicles that use traditional, internal combustion engines in order to lower the carbon emission and help to reduce greenhouse effects, to make necessary regulations under and in terms of National Environment Act.”

On 5th day of February 2024 the Supreme Court directed several parties including President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Environment Minister Keheliya Rambuk Wella, Sunity Energy Authority and Ministry of Transport to inform their court in detail within six weeks what measures taken to reduce climate change in the country.