Affordable and clean energy
Sri Lanka has one of the lowest per capita carbon emissions rates for a lower middle-income country. However, during the past decade progress along the low-carbon growth trajectory has been threatened by several policy and institutional issues across sectors, even as the importance of sustainability has emerged in regional and global spheres. Over the last two decades, Sri Lanka's active vehicle fleet has increased dramatically due to rising numbers of personal vehicles with only a fraction of an increase in use of public transport modes, a trend which is expected to continue in coming years. GHG emissions from the transport sector have increased at a faster rate than any other energy sector, contributing 10 Gt CO2e out of a total of 24 Gt CO2e per annum. In the country, fuel consumed by the transport sector contributes to 70% of the total demand for petroleum. The absence of a policy framework for a sustainable transport system has impeded the formulation of strategies for systematic integration of sustainable transport concepts into the national transport system, despite an ambitious NDC update in 2021. Other challenges are related to information management, appraisal methods/tools, actor competencies, technology transfer, social inclusion, stakeholder engagement, and sustainable financing.
The objective of the technical assistance is to facilitate the introduction of e-buses to the public transport system in Sri Lanka using effective technology transfer and adoption. The activities to be included are: conducting a comprehensive characterization of technologies; developing an education and training package for competency building; formulating a framework and protocol for e-bus project appraisal; and operationalizing an information management platform for the e-bus fleet.
This technical assistance will also focus on the ways in which women face more numerous mobility barriers than men, and the need to include their voices in transport design, planning, and operations. Urban biodiversity will also be taken into account with regard to minimizing accidents that take place in urban wildlife corridors. The elderly, women, children, and people with disabilities will be actively engaged in education and professional development in e-bus integration into the public transport system and in the comprehensive framework and protocol for appraisals of e-bus projects. Likewise, the information management platform for the e-bus fleet will have a section for these populations, and for biodiversity, environmental values, and other co-benefits.
The technical assistance will also contribute to the country’s Nationally Determined Contribution, in which the transport sector is one of six mitigation sectors covered in the updated NDCs, where it is stated that the country plans to promote public passenger transport, introduce taxes and other instruments for its promotion, promote electric mobility and hybrid vehicles, and improve vehicle fleet efficiency.