The third ‘Sri Lanka Next 2018,’ A Blue Green Era, conference and exhibition will be held on October 19 and 20 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) under the aegis the President Maithripala Sirisena.
The exhibition is organised by the Mahaweli Development and Environment Ministry in line with the world’s interest on controlling climate change.
Mahaweli Development and Environment Deputy Minister Ajith Mannapperuma said yesterday, the event also aims at gathering updated knowledge on local, regional and global efforts to address climate change issues and disseminate such knowledge to support Sr Lanka’s development agenda.
This programme is to ensure Sri Lanka’s low carbon pathways to reduce global warming with respect to the Paris Agreement and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
It also aims at creating an awareness among the key stakeholders and the public on the environment and a blue-green economy to obtain their active participation to achieve both economic and environmental sustainability in Sri Lanka.
The Deputy Minister said a major challenge faced by the world today is the impact of global warming which has a direct link with the activities of the people. Since it is estimated that the world population will increase by another 2 billion by the year 2050, it has become absolutely necessary to pay increased attention to global warming in keeping with the increasing population.
“Therefore, it is important to take necessary measures to utilise the world’s limited natural resources for sustainable production and consumption for the benefit of future generations,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Central Environmental Authority has organised the Presidential Environment Awards Programme to reward individuals, institutions, Organisations, Environmental Journalists and Industrial activities who have made a special contribution to the field of environmental conservation and protection.
The awards ceremony will be held on October 19.
The main objective of this awards ceremony is to appreciate the enthusiasm of the public towards environmental conservation and protection, while sustaining their active involvement in the long run for the clean and green production and services.