Presidential Environmental Awards - 2025

For you, the guardian of the Earth’s safety

- By - SRIYANJANI LOKULIYANA, MEDIA OFFICER - CENTRAL ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORITY

(Based on a discussion with the Chairman of the Central Environmental Authority, Professor Tilak Hewawasam, and Director General Kapila Mahesh Rajapaksha) It has now become widely recognized that the entire world is facing a series of extremely severe environmental challenges. Among these, the issues most frequently discussed are the so-called “Triple Planetary Crisis”: climate change, environmental pollution, and biodiversity loss. Upon reflection, we may fealize that almost every environmental problem we know of falls within these three categories.

However, isn’t the global community now striving with numerous conventions, laws, treaties, and agreements to save our living planet, the Earth, from a great catastrophe? The reason the whole world joins hands to act on environmental problems is that their consequences know no borders.

Therefore, shouldn’t we remember that even the smallest human actions throwing away a toffee wrapper, a plastic bottle, burning household waste, using disposable shopping bags without thought, or discarding lunch sheets after use can harm the

entire planet? We are well aware that such actions, among many others, are not environmentally friendly. Yet, in practice, we continue to engage in them, citing convenience, habit profit, or other justifications.

At a time when we can clearly see and hear of such disasters, it is now imperative that we consciously put an end to these harmful practices and adopt environmentally friendly behaviour in all our actions. Otherwise, it is with regret that we must admit that our world and that of our future generations will soon face a deeply unfortunate environmental fate.