RFI_USAID-SL-Maldives_Adaptation-Activity.pdf

U.S. Agency for International Development 44, Galle Road Colombo 03 Sri Lanka

Tel: 94-11-249 8000 Fax 94-11-247 2850 http://srilanka.usaid.gov

Request for Information USAID/Sri Lanka & Maldives Climate Change Adaptation Project

Reference Number: 2021/A Release Date: September 08, 2020 Response Due Date: October 05, 2020

The United States Agency for International Development, Sri Lanka and Maldives (USAID/Sri Lanka & Maldives) Mission is in the process of designing a new five-year program initiative to support climate change adaptation in Sri Lanka and Maldives. Stated below are the two main objectives of the program.

1. To enhance the resilience of the Maldivian government, private sector, and local environmental and community groups to adopt to the vulnerabilities of climate change.

(Please refer attachment 1)

2. To strengthen the resilience of the public and private sectors In Sri Lanka to reduce vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change. (Please refer attachment 2)

USAID anticipates allocating approximately US$19 million, (US$8 million for Sri Lanka and US$11 million for Maldives) over the life of the program.

The USAID/Sri Lanka & Maldives Mission is posting this two-country concept in order to provide public information to all interested parties of USAID’s intent to support climate change adaptation in Sri Lanka and Maldives, as well as to collect information and suggestions about perceived needs for climate adaptation programming. The information contained within this RFI is intended solely as a thought-piece; ideas may change significantly during the Mission’s program design, consultation and approval process. In addition, any information collected through this RFI may or may not be used to help guide thinking about adaptation programming.

THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ONLY. It is not a Request for Proposal, a Request for Quotation, a Request for Application, an Invitation for Bids, a Solicitation, or an indication USAID will contract for the items contained in this RFI. This RFI is an attempt to reach out in an effort to determine industry capabilities and interests and will be treated as information only. In accordance with U.S. Federal Acquisition Regulations FAR 15.201(e), responses to this notice are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract.

Responses to this RFI are strictly voluntary and USAID will not pay respondents for information provided in response to this RFI. Responses to this RFI may not be returned and respondents may not be notified of the result of the review. If a Solicitation is issued, it will be announced on www.beta.SAM.gov website at a later date, and all interested parties must respond to that Solicitation announcement separately from any response to this announcement. This RFI does not restrict the Government's acquisition approach on a future Solicitation.

Standard Clauses and Provisions The standard clauses or provisions for awards are generally prescribed by law and regulation and will vary considerably by award type. Information regarding clauses and provisions will be provided when the award type is identified after proposals/applications are sought in the future.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION OR SOLICITATION FOR PLANNING PURPOSES (OCT 1997)

(a) The Government does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this solicitation or to otherwise pay for the information solicited except as an allowable cost under other contracts as provided in subsection 31.205-18, Bid and proposal costs, of the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

(b) Although “proposal” and “offeror” are used in this Request for Information, your response will be treated as information only. It will not be used as a proposal.

(c) This solicitation is issued for the purpose of receiving recommendations on approaches for designing USAID/Maldives’ Climate Change Adaptation Project.

Instructions for Submitting Responses/Comments Responses (comments, suggestions, and opinions) to this RFI are due no later than Monday, October 05, 2020 at 09:00 A.M (Sri Lankan Time). Respondents may also include organization information including past experiences working in this subject area, experience working with other stakeholders, including implementing partners on the ground or host country government officials, or capacity information.

Send comments related to this RFI via email to the attention of Mr. Harsha Kaluarachchi, Acquisition and Assistance Specialist at srilankaprocurement@usaid.gov and CC hkaluarachchi@usaid.gov with the subject title “Request for Information (RFI): USAID Climate Change Adaptation Project”, no later than the date/time stated above. You will only receive an electronic confirmation acknowledging receipt of your response but will not receive individualized feedback on any suggestions.

This Notice can be viewed and downloaded from the internet at www.beta.SAM.gov.

Thank you for your assistance and interest in USAID programs.

Sincerely, Marcus A. Johnson, Jr.

Supervisory Contracting & Agreement Officer

ATTACHMENT 1: Concept Paper Maldives Climate Change Adaptation Project

Background The Maldives is an archipelago of 26 low-lying coral atolls in the Indian ocean. The country consists of a total of 1190 small tropical islands out of which only 358 are used for economic activities and human settlement. More than 80% of the Maldives’ land area is less than 1 meter above sea level. The driving force of the Maldives’ economy is tourism, which contributes about one third of the gross domestic product (GDP) and is also the fastest growing economic sector within the country. The second largest economic sector is fisheries, which contributes to around 7% of the nation’s GDP and provides direct or indirect income to more than 20% of the population. Both fisheries and a vast portion of the tourism industry’s infrastructure are primarily located in regions that are within 100m of the coastline, which makes the Maldivian economy particularly sensitive to sea level rise and coastal storms. The archipelago is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Human activities causing damage to the country's coral reef systems exacerbate these effects leading to reduced fish populations, beach erosion and saltwater intrusion into freshwater tables.

Climate Summary1 Maldives is characterized by a warm and humid tropical monsoon climate with an annual mean temperature of 28°C. The islands experience little variation in temperatures throughout the year.

The seasonal cycle is strongest in the north recording an average maximum temperature of around 29.3°C just prior to the onset of the southwest monsoons (April-May) and an average minimum temperature of around 27.4°C prior to the onset of the northeast monsoons (December-January). The southern equatorial regions experience precipitation throughout the year and do not experience a very significant dry spell related to the northeast monsoons.

Maldives is one of the lowest countries in the world, and hence, is greatly threatened by sea level rise, coastal storm surges, and associated flooding. In recent years, many inhabited islands in the Maldives have experienced severe weather events such as strong winds, flooding, rough seas, and storm surges resulting in severe beach erosion hazards and coastal infrastructure damage.

Climate Trends

● Temperature - In 1969-1999, the annual average maximum and annual average minimum temperatures in Male (central region) shows a rising trend of 0.17°C and 0.07°C per decade respectively. A more recent temperature record from 1995-2004 compares the trend in annual average maximum temperatures between the northern, central and southern atolls. An increasing trend is observed for central and northern regions, with the northern atolls showing more pronounced increase. The southern atolls

Data on climate trends and projections extracted from https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/maldives do not show any visible trend in the short-term record of annual average maximum temperatures.

● Precipitation - The analysis of annual rainfall totals from 1969-1998 for Male (central) and Gan (south) shows a decreasing trend of around 2.7mm/year and 7.6mm/year respectively. Further on analyzing the seasonal average precipitation for the same period at Male, it can be seen that the decreasing trend is visible only during the southwest monsoon season, while no significant trend is observed during the northeast monsoon.

● Along with sea-level rise, local records have also indicated a long-term increase in sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and hourly maximum tide levels. This may greatly amplify coastal storm surge and wave-heights. The reported maximum storm surge height in Maldives is around 1.3 m which by itself is sufficient to inundate small and medium sized atolls.

● Coastal inundation associated with high waves and heavy rainfall in Maldives is often experienced during the interim period between the two monsoons that is during April and December. The swells and wind waves are typically strongest between April and July, and occur more frequently in the southern regions.

● From historical records, it is also evident that the northern region of Maldives has experienced significant tropical cyclone activity in the past. Although tropical cyclones may not form along Maldives’ coast, they often move into the region from the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian sea during the transition period between the two monsoons. The damages caused by these cyclones have resulted in up to 18 northern islands becoming uninhabited.

Climate Projections

● Mean annual temperature is projected to increase by 1.21-1.46°C for the period 2040 - 2059. The mean annual precipitation is projected to decrease by 2050.

● The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change models project a rise of 0.18 to 0.59 m in global mean sea-levels by the end of the current century. This may increase vulnerability to coastal storm surges during extreme events, and may cause acute stress on water resources, infrastructure, etc. Maldives islands are particularly at risk, threatened with severe inundation by rising seas.

● Climate change is likely to increase food insecurity in Maldives, a country with a great nutritional dependence on fisheries. Furthermore, a population scattered across 195 islands makes disaster management and food distribution extremely difficult.

● Model projections have indicated that the intensity of tropical cyclones, along with associated wind speeds and precipitation is likely to increase in the future, aided by the ongoing increase in tropical sea surface temperatures. This means that northern and central Maldives could experience more intense tropical storms making these regions highly susceptible to related damages.

Policy Context Maldives' National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) identifies adaptation needs in various sectors and prioritizes adaptation strategies using inputs from community, government and private sector. The Policy framework also presents a broad view of adaptation strategies that need to be undertaken. In the country's Intended Nationally Determined Contribution, a significant priority has been put on enhancing water and food security including a climate risk insurance mechanism; increasing resilience and climate proofing of all critical infrastructures, particularly coastal one to safeguard the tourist product and tourist facilities; surveillance program for vector borne diseases; safeguarding coral reef and its biodiversity; and improvement of climate services. Management of environmental practices and protection of natural resources in Maldives is overseen by the Ministry of Environment, under which serves the Climate Change Department of Maldives.

Link to USAID Mission Strategy and Agency Goals This program contributes to the objectives of the U.S. State Department’s Maldives Integrated Country Strategy2. In addition, activities under the expected program are intended to support the USAID’s strategic approach to advance the U.S. Government’s Indo-Pacific Vision. Specifically, the program will contribute to the strategic pillar on the improved management of natural resources by supporting environmental safeguards and adoption of environmental standards, thereby strengthening resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Development Hypothesis The impacts of climate change are already slowing Maldives’ economic development, and this negative impact is likely to increase in the future, given current trends. By strengthening capacity to integrate climate risk management into decision-making processes, by managing climate risks proactively, and by improving the capacity of stakeholders to understand and communicate climate information, USAID expects to enhance the resilience of public, non-governmental and private sector to natural disasters and climate change.

Strategic Approach This project will be designed to support USAID’s strategic objectives and the national climate change adaptation goals for reducing the risk of natural disasters and adapting to climate change. This activity plans to engage financial institutions, the private sector, government, and non-governmental environmental and community groups to develop and implement approaches to manage the impact of climate change, focusing on climate-vulnerable sectors. When possible, the project will build upon successful efforts and partner with others to leverage expertise and good practices in climate change adaptation fields. The following are key tenets of the program’s strategic approach:

Appropriate linkages between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation - There very close linkages between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in Maldives, https://www.state.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/ICS-Maldives_UNCLASS-508.pdf so a combined approach that helps focus stakeholders on reducing their risks to and prepare for rapid-onset disasters in the short term while working within the context of longer-term adaptation capacity-building on the basis of the latest available scientific information on current and projected changes in weather, temperature, and rainfall patterns is anticipated to be the most productive. However, while there is significant overlap between the two disciplines, they are not exactly the same so it will also be important to take a tailored approach when necessary.

Gender and Inclusiveness- USAID expects to ensure broad inclusion of stakeholders and to promote women’s empowerment through this program. Worldwide experience has demonstrated that climate change has the severest impact upon those who are least able to adapt, often because of poverty, lack of education or access to information, disabilities, gender power dynamics, or any other factor that may impact their ability to access the resources that would allow them to adapt to climatic conditions or natural disasters. Through this new climate adaptation program, USAID intends to place an emphasis on improving the adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities and enterprises, through enhanced access to relevant climate data, design and implementation of better policy, and education about and piloting of appropriate adaptation options.

Program Results USAID/Maldives $11 million program will aim to enhance the resilience of public, non-governmental and private sector efforts to reduce vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change. This activity plans to engage financial institutions, the private sector, government, and non-governmental environmental and community groups to develop and implement approaches to manage the impact of climate change, focusing on climate-vulnerable sectors. The activity will seek to achieve one or more of the following results:

1) Reduce climate risks and support adaptation planning in the tourism and fisheries sectors by improving access to information about weather, climate hazards, and environmental impacts;

2) Support central and local government bodies in addressing climate-related risks;

3) Support innovative non-government and private sector approaches to climate risk resilience;

and

4) Mobilize private sector funding and/or financing for actions that reduce risks associated with extreme weather, climate variability, and climate change.

Requested Action In order to maximize potential impact, USAID is seeking feedback on the project approach (including opportunities, as well as things to avoid) and seeks additional information on programs, policies, research, data, activities that might be useful for the project design. As part of a consultation process, USAID is looking to receive personal or institutional perspectives on integrating and mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, including past successes and failures, opportunities to leverage existing efforts and resources, gaps that need to be addressed, and sectorial and geographic focus. USAID is particularly interested in receiving comments on this concept paper with respect to the following questions:

● What are the major challenges to effectively engaging the public and private sectors to adapt to the vulnerabilities of climate change in Maldives? What are some potential interventions that could help overcome these challenges? Please share any specific examples that you have dealt with in Maldives or similar development contexts.

● What are the opportunities for USAID to support the Government of Maldives efforts to strengthen climate change adaptation (CCA)? Who are the specific government entities engaged in CCA work USAID can support and what are some potential interventions to support the work of these entities to strengthen CCA?

● How can improving natural resource management be used as a successful approach by the public, private and non-government sectors to strengthen CCA? Could you provide some examples of potential interventions that illustrate this? What specific methods for increasing the resilience of management systems for natural resources will allow quicker adaption to the vulnerabilities of climate change in Maldives?

● What types of decision-making information, data, information and tools would best support the Maldivian government to streamline CCA in public sector policy making and development?

● What types of decision-making information, data, information and tools would best support the Maldivian non-governmental sector to influence and advocate for CCA in public sector policy making and development?

● What types of decision-making information, data, information and tools would best support the private sector to mainstream CCA into their business model or increase the overall resilience of their business to climate change?

● What type of climate risk information needs better communication? And to whom? What approaches have successfully resulted in behavior change (individual and institutional)?

● What are some ongoing CCA activities that are particularly effective in Maldives and who are engaged in these activities?

● Which Maldivian private sector bodies are doing innovative work in the CCA space?

What innovative approaches have been most successful?

● Which Maldivian non-government organizations are doing innovative work in the CCA space? What innovative approaches have been most successful?

● In what climate vulnerable economic sectors in Maldives do you think USAID can make the most impact over the next five years? Why?

● What are the greatest research needs in Maldives on the topic of climate change adaptation? Could you give successful examples of how climate change research and findings have been used by the public, non-government and private sectors to influence decision making?

● How can long-term financial sustainability be built into CCA interventions? Could you share specific examples of successful financing strategies to support CCA that have worked in Maldives or other countries with similar contexts?

● Please share any other suggestions you may wish to offer that will improve program design and implementation.

ATTACHMENT 2: Concept Paper Sri Lanka Climate Change Adaptation Project

Background Located in the Indian Ocean, off the Southwest Coast of India, Sri Lanka is a small island nation with a physically diverse geography and tropical climate. With a land area of 65,610 square kilometers (km2) and 1,340 km of coastline, Sri Lanka is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. As of July 2017, the estimated population of Sri Lanka is over 22 million, with roughly 50 percent of inhabitants living in coastal areas on the West, South-west, and Southern coasts of the island. The commercial capital of Colombo has the highest population density with 21,000 inhabitants per km2. Sri Lanka has made great strides in the last 20 years to increase incomes and reduce poverty, now meeting most Millennium Development Goals. Much of this progress faces significant threat from the impacts of climate change. Primary economic drivers, including tourism, commercial agriculture, and manufacturing are extremely vulnerable to extreme weather events and sea level rise. In addition, deforestation, soil erosion, and loss of biodiversity also threaten to reduce the country’s economic output.

Climate Summary3 The island nation of Sri Lanka possesses a hot and humid tropical climate, but with significant differences across variations in topography. Average annual rainfall is below 1,000 millimeters

(mm) in the semi-arid Northwest, but above 5,000 mm in the central hills of the Southwest.

Across the island, rainfall comes in four distinct seasons: the Southwest monsoon season from May to September, often exceeding 3,000 mm of precipitation in the wettest regions; a relatively dry inter-monsoon period from October to November; the Northeast monsoon season from December to February, contributing between 200 mm and 1,200 mm of precipitation, mostly in the wettest regions; and finally, another relatively dry inter-monsoon season from March to April.

These seasonal variations, along with topography, divide Sri Lanka into three zones: the Wet Zone, the Intermediate Zone, and the Dry Zone. Precipitation patterns are influenced by El Niño and La Niña conditions and the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. These rains help support robust and extremely biodiverse forests, covering over 19,500 km2 or 30% of the island, of which around 14,000 km2 are dense forests. However, deforestation is rapidly reducing the forest cover of Sri Lanka and just one third of natural cover remains. This loss of forest cover can contribute to erosion and landslide risk. Temperatures fluctuate very little on an annual basis, with mean average temperatures ranging between 26°C and 28°C in coastal areas and between 15°C and 19°C at higher altitudes above 1500 meters (m). Historically, Sri Lanka experiences relatively moderate cyclone events, mostly in the Northern region. However, cyclone-related storm surges and coastal erosion are already a major threat to population centers.

Data on climate trends and projections extracted from https://www.climatelinks.org/resources/climate-information-factsheet-sri-lanka and https://www.climatelinks.org/resources/sri-lanka-climate-risk-profile

Climate Trends Climate trends include: • Increase in mean annual temperature of 0.2°C per decade between 1961 and 1990. • Increase in mean daytime maximum temperatures of 1°C between 1961 and 2001. • Increase in mean nighttime minimum temperatures of 0.7°C between 1961 and 2001. • Decrease in island-wide mean annual precipitation of 144 mm between 1961 and 1990. • Increase in frequency and intensity of floods. • Increase in frequency and intensity of droughts. • Uncertain rates of sea level rise around Sri Lanka, specifically, but accelerated rates across Asia with increases of 3.1 mm per year from 1993 – 2003, compared to 1.7 mm to 2.4 mm per year for the 20th century.

Climate Projections Projected changes include: • Increase in mean annual temperature of between 0.8°C and 2°C by 2060. • Increase in both daily maximum and minimum temperatures of between 0.7°C and 0.8°C by 2050. • Projections of change in precipitation vary, with some predicting decreases and some increases, but generally indicate an increase in variability and extreme events. • Increase in cyclone frequency and intensity. • Increased frequency and severity of floods, drought incidence, and landslides. • Total sea level rise of between 0.2 and 0.6 meters by mid-century, compared to 1971-2010 levels.

Policy Context Being a developing island nation with rich biodiversity in both terrestrial and marine ecosystems, the impacts and risks of climate change are highly visible and weigh heavily on Sri Lankan policy makers. As a result, Sri Lanka has been relatively proactive in identifying and seeking to plan for the impacts of climate change, including through development of a national policy and multiple adaptation-focused reports for international agencies (e.g., two National Communications and a National Adaptation Plan). Sri Lanka has been actively developing planning documents related to climate change since the 1990s. Following the devastation of the 2004 tsunami, many of these documents and subsequent planning efforts have been built around resilience to natural disasters. Conflict in the country significantly reduced development investments until 2009. Since then, tangible progress in addressing climate change has been slow, particularly in the northern part of the country. Though national and regional documents have been produced to highlight the policy objectives related to climate change impacts and potential risk mitigation measures, implementation has generally been limited. However, the government of Sri Lanka has designed and implemented a number of plans that combat indirect risks associated with climate change. Management of environmental practices and protection of natural resources in Sri Lanka is overseen by the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment, under which serves the Climate Change Secretariat of Sri Lanka.

Link to USAID/Sri Lanka Country Development Cooperation Strategy and Agency Goals USAID is currently designing its 2021-2025 Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS) for Sri Lanka, expected to be finalized by December 2020. It should also be noted that this project will represent the Mission’s first climate change adaptation program in Sri Lanka.

Activities under the expected program are intended to support the USAID’s strategic approach to advance the U.S. Government’s Indo-Pacific Vision. Specifically, the program will contribute to the strategic pillar on the improved management of natural resources by promoting private sector engagement to support environmental safeguards and adoption of environmental standards, thereby strengthening private sector resilience to the impacts of climate change.

Development Hypothesis The impacts of climate change are already slowing Sri Lanka’s economic development, and this negative impact is likely to increase in the future, given current trends. By strengthening capacity to integrate climate risk management into decision-making processes, by managing risks proactively, and by improving the capacity of stakeholders to understand and communicate climate information, USAID expects to improve the resilience of public and private sector efforts to natural disasters and climate change.

Strategic Approach This project will be designed to support USAID/Sri Lanka’s CDCS and the national climate change adaptation goals for reducing the risk of natural disasters and adapting to climate change. This activity plans to engage financial institutions, the private sector, government, and non-governmental environmental and community groups to develop and implement approaches to manage the impact of climate change, focusing on climate-vulnerable sectors. When possible, the project will build upon successful efforts and partner with others to leverage expertise and good practices in climate change adaptation fields. The following are key tenets of the program’s strategic approach:

Appropriate linkages between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation - There very close linkages between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in Sri Lanka, so a combined approach that helps focus stakeholders on reducing their risks to and prepare for rapid-onset disasters in the short term while working within the context of longer-term adaptation capacity-building on the basis of the latest available scientific information on current and projected changes in weather, temperature, and rainfall patterns is anticipated to be the most productive. However, while there is significant overlap between the two disciplines, they are not exactly the same so it will also be important to take a tailored approach when necessary.

Gender and Inclusiveness- USAID expects to ensure broad inclusion of stakeholders and to promote women’s empowerment through this program. Worldwide experience has demonstrated that climate change has the severest impact upon those who are least able to adapt, often because of poverty, lack of education or access to information, disabilities, gender power dynamics, or any other factor that may impact their ability to access the resources that would allow them to adapt to climatic conditions or natural disasters. Through this new climate adaptation program, USAID intends to place an emphasis on improving the adaptive capacity of vulnerable enterprises and related communities, through enhanced access to relevant climate data, design and implementation of better policy, and education about and piloting of appropriate adaptation options.

Program Results USAID/Sri Lanka’s $8 million program will aim to enhance the resilience of private and public sectors in Sri Lanka to reduce vulnerabilities to the impacts of climate change. This activity plans to engage financial institutions, the private sector, government, and non-governmental environmental and community groups to develop and implement approaches to manage the impact of climate change, focusing on climate-vulnerable sectors. The activity will seek to achieve one or more of the following results:

1) Improved access to information about climate hazards and impacts to support adaptation planning and reduce risks related to public and private investments in climate-vulnerable sectors, including tourism;

2) Innovative actions that improve natural resource management and increase public and private sector resilience to climate-related risks;

3) Mobilized private sector funding and/or financing for actions that reduce risks associated with extreme weather, climate variability, and climate change.

Requested Action In order to maximize potential impact, USAID is seeking feedback on the project approach (including opportunities, as well as things to avoid) and seeks additional information on programs, policies, research, data, activities that might be useful for the project design. As part of a consultation process, USAID is looking to receive personal or institutional perspectives on integrating and mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, including past successes and failures, opportunities to leverage existing efforts and resources, gaps that need to be addressed, and sectorial and geographic focus. USAID is particularly interested in receiving comments on this concept paper with respect to any/all of the following questions:

● What are the major challenges to effectively engaging the public and private sectors to adapt to the vulnerabilities of climate change in Sri Lanka? What are some potential interventions that could help overcome these challenges? Please share any specific examples that you have dealt with in Sri Lanka or similar development contexts.

● What are the opportunities for USAID to support the Government of Sri Lanka’s efforts to strengthen climate change adaptation (CCA)? Who are the specific government entities engaged in CCA work USAID can support and what are some potential interventions to support the work of these entities to strengthen CCA?

● How can improving natural resource management be used as a successful approach by the public and private sector to strengthen CCA? Could you provide some examples of potential interventions that illustrate this? What specific methods for increasing the resilience of management systems for natural resources will allow quicker adaption to the vulnerabilities of climate change in Sri Lanka?

● What types of decision-making information, data, information and tools would best support the Sri Lankan government to streamline CCA in public sector policy making and development?

● What types of decision-making information, data, information and tools would best support the private sector to mainstream CCA into their business model or increase the overall resilience of their business to climate change?

● What type of climate risk information needs better communication? And to whom? What approaches have successfully resulted in behavior change (individual and institutional)?

● What are some ongoing CCA activities that are particularly effective in Sri Lanka and who are engaged in these activities?

● Which Sri Lankan private sector bodies are doing innovative work in the CCA space?

What innovative approaches have been most successful?

● In what climate vulnerable economic sectors in Sri Lanka do you think USAID can make the most impact over the next five years? Why?

● What are the greatest research needs in Sri Lanka on the topic of climate change adaptation? Could you give successful examples of how climate change research and findings have been used by the public and private sectors to influence decision making?

● How can long-term financial sustainability be built into CCA interventions? Could you share specific examples of successful financing strategies to support CCA that have worked in Sri Lanka or other countries with similar contexts?

● Please share any other suggestions you may wish to offer that will improve program design and implementation.