Sri Lanka, Japan sign agreement on low carbon growth partnership

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lanka and Japan have signed a memorandum of cooperation on a Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM) for a low carbon growth partnership, President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s office said.

The agreement was signed on Monday October 10 by Secretary to the Ministry of Environment Dr Anil Jasinghe and  Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Misukoshi Hideki, a statement from the president’s office said.

A joint committee co-chaired by the governments of Japan and Sri Lanka and representatives of both countries will be established to approve any projects in the implementation of the mechanism in Sri Lanka, the1 statement said.

Approval from Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General’s Department for the JCM, with cabinet approval given on September 05.

The president’s office said that after its withdrawal from the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, Japan introduced the JCM in 2013 to contribute to the global effort of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This mechanism has been developed to reduce GHG emissions jointly with developing countries and share the greenhouse gas emissions reduced as the percentage between Japan and the agreed party country. Japan introduced the mechanism as agreed at the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change to adopt the Paris Agreement to achieve the commitments of the Nationally Determined Contributions.

Japan is currently implementing projects under the JCM mechanism in 17 countries such as Mongolia, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, Maldives, Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Costa Rica, Palau, Cambodia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Myanmar, Thailand and Philippines.

Through implementing the proposed projects under this mechanism the benefits such as introducing new technologies and technical expertise, capacity building, generation of green jobs and new infrastructure development could be achieved, the president’s office said.

The government of Japan and its private sector will provide technical assistance and part of the capital investment to implement the JCM in developing countries and projects in energy, industry, transport, waste, forestry and agriculture sectors for reducing GHG emissions are expected to be implemented.

Sri Lanka ratified the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in September 2016 and has also submitted its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The president’s office said that the implementation of the JCM in Sri Lanka will support achieving the GHG emission reduction targets under the Paris Agreement and contribute to the global effort of reaching the global temperature goal of the Paris Agreement. (Colombo/Oct10/2022)