To prepare junior negotiators and other government officials from Asia and the Pacific for the UNFCCC climate negotiations, LRI contributed to an ecbi regional training workshop in Sri Lanka from 6 to 7 September.

The workshop was organised by the Sri Lankan NGO Janathaksan and attended by 30 officials from, for example, Bangladesh, India, Lao, Sri Lanka, Vanuatu, Vietnam, and Tuvalu.

Through a mix of presentations and practical exercises participants were introduced to salient climate policy issues and encouraged to actively engage in the negotiations.

While the training workshop took place heavy rainfalls battered Sri Lanka – and the conference venue in the coastal town Negombo. According to the Guardian newspaper, over 1200 people are feared to have died, and 40 million estimated to have been affected by flooding across the South Asian region during the last few weeks.