Climate financing barriers and strategies: the case of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Purpose Climate change mitigation and adaptation play an important role in overcoming the climate change challenges facing Sri Lanka today. Many initiatives have been undertaken to implement different policies and plans in this regard, which require considerable mobilisation of national and international financing. In acquiring climate finance, many barriers can be identified. This paper aims to investigate such barriers to climate financing in Sri Lanka and proposes strategies to address them. Design/methodology/approach The qualitative research approach was undertaken in this study by conducting ten semi-structured interviews with experts who are involved in climate change policy implementation activities in Sri Lanka. The collected data were analysed using the content analysis method via Nvivo software. Findings The empirical findings unveil six key barriers and the corresponding root causes to climate financing in Sri Lanka. Inadequate domestic funding for climate actions was captured as the dominant barrier in this direction. This study also revealed that barriers and their root causes are interconnected, leading to many financial limitations in implementing climate actions. The importance of playing a leading role by the government and enabling an integrated approach between the private and public sector organisations were identified as key strategies to combat climate finance barriers. Originality/value Despite there being studies focusing on climate change and related policies, limited research has been carried out with regard to climate financing. Within this context, this study makes an original contribution in the area of climate financing with particular reference to a developing country like Sri Lanka. Further, the identification of barriers to climate financing, their root causes and strategies to address them also provides an original contribution to theory and practice.