Sri Lanka came away from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) summit in Mongolia with cooperation arrangements in environmental protection, agriculture and trade, Environment Minister Dr. Dammika Patabendi said at a press conference at his ministry on Thursday.
It was the first time a Sri Lankan Environment Minister has attended the summit, the Daily Mirror reported. The gathering brings together representatives of 196 countries and 197 parties, including the European Union.
Thursday’s briefing was the minister’s account of what the visit produced. His set-piece intervention at the summit — a High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on water and drought at which he argued drought planning must begin before a crisis hardens and asked for predictable finance and early-warning technology — took place on 26 August, and the Daily Mirror describes it as a special session marking Water Day.
Three bilateral tracks
Mongolia. The two countries agreed to work towards the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) target by 2030 and to explore exchanging technical expertise on sustainable land and water management and wildlife conservation. Both sides stressed cooperation among developing countries across the Asia-Pacific.
Iran. Talks focused on expanding agricultural cooperation between two states with 64 years of diplomatic relations. The Iranian side proposed a joint agricultural technical committee of experts from both countries to exchange agricultural technology and innovation, and expressed appreciation for Sri Lankan humanitarian assistance during past crises. The two sides agreed to pass details of Sri Lanka’s contribution to Iranian agricultural infrastructure to the Sri Lankan Agriculture Minister.
Fiji. Discussions covered agriculture, waterways, the sugar industry and value addition. Fiji expressed interest in drawing on Sri Lankan expertise in value-added tea, coconut and cocoa products, and agreed to share international market intelligence and approaches on sugar.
Context
The Iran track is the notable one. Sri Lanka’s agricultural relationship with Iran has historically run through tea — Iran has been a significant buyer, and a long-running debt-for-tea arrangement settled Sri Lankan oil arrears in kind. Any expansion now sits against a region under acute strain, with strikes on shipping in the Gulf and Brent crude above US$100 this week.
The ministry said the visit let Sri Lanka advance its environmental and climate agenda internationally while opening partnerships in agriculture, trade and other economic sectors.
Not reported
The Daily Mirror does not say whether any of the three arrangements was signed as a memorandum of understanding or remains a statement of intent, and gives no timeline, funding figure or named counterpart minister for any of them. It does not say when the joint agricultural technical committee with Iran would be constituted, or how the LDN 2030 work with Mongolia would be resourced. Sri Lanka’s own current land degradation figures are not given.
Sources: Daily Mirror.
