Millions in South Asia, who depend on natural resources for their livelihoods, are affected and stand to be further affected by the impacts of climate change. This holds true whether the impact is due to rapid onset events like cyclones or slow onset events like sea level rise, increasing temperatures, ocean acidification, glacial retreat and related impacts, salinization, land and forest degradation, loss of biodiversity and desertification. While rapid onset events garner immediate attention due to their sudden and devastating nature, slow onset events are yet to be comprehensively addressed at the policy level in South Asia. The Workshop on Capacity Building of Policymakers & Practitioners on Loss and Damage Related to Slow-Onset is the first step in a major project which will attempt to enhance the capacity of policymakers in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal to address current and future losses from slow onset events.

The objective of this workshop was to holistically consider these issues in the context of policymaking amongst Sri Lankan stakeholders, with input from both national and international experts. The workshop provided the opportunity for a diverse group of stakeholders in climate change research to gather and discuss slow onset events in Sri Lanka, and related loss & damage. Those invited included government representatives, academicians, private researchers, development practitioners, and non-governmental organizations’ representatives.