The distress of climate injustice

Even today, the effects of climate change impact the mental health and psychosocial well-being of Sri Lankan people in significant ways. There are direct impacts of climate change on livelihoods that are dependent on climatic conditions. There are also threats to the lives and resources of families living in fragile environments that are vulnerable to frequent extreme weather conditions. These stressors undermine the socio-economic and material determinants of well-being and mental health in multiple ways. The uncertainty of impacts of extreme weather conditions, the anticipated rise of sea level in the future, and changes to the familiar natural environment are also a source of worry and fear for vulnerable populations’ existence and identity. 

Perhaps the most obvious of the direct impacts of increasingly unpredictable weather conditions is on the livelihoods of farming and fishing communities. Over 28 percent of Sri Lanka’s population is estimated to be directly engaged in agriculture and a significant percentage of the population is indirectly dependent on livelihoods related to diverse food supply chains. The impacts of economic stress on affected families and communities manifest in increased suicidal or self-harming behaviour, family conflict, and risky coping responses that undermine well-being.  Any negative impacts on the production in the agricultural sector, especially food crops and fisheries, also impact the food security of the wider population of the country. In the context of the current crisis, the impacts of adverse weather associated with climate change add an additional layer of precariousness – where Sri Lanka anticipates a loss of food production due to a poorly-planned policy to shift suddenly to organic farming as well as reduced financial capacity to import staples such as rice to meet the shortfall. Furthermore, the sudden onset of extreme weather conditions, especially cyclones, floods, and landslides, routinely disrupt human settlements, damage infrastructure, and impede access to essential services. In the more recent past, an increase in sea erosion damaging houses and property of coastal populations has been observed. Living in such conditions causes instability and uncertainty in people’s lives, and could increase stresses related to the safety and security of their loved ones. Being exposed frequently to inhospitable climatic conditions can erode families’ and communities’ resilience to cope with crises.  Adverse impacts of climate change stressors also affect interpersonal relationships – for example, exacerbate violence against women and children within families. Existing practices of community-sharing can also be challenged when resources become scarce during times of prolonged or repeated harsh weather conditions, leading to inter and intra-community conflicts.

Changing climatic conditions, particularly unfamiliar and unpredictable weather patterns, challenge communities’ use of traditional knowledge, and time-tested skills and technologies in managing their food security. Rural communities adapt to spells of adverse weather by supplementing their staple diet of rice with alternative seasonal foods during lean periods. Prolonged drought or frequent floods undermine people’s capacity to use their knowledge and skills to cope with threats to their farming and food security. Similar stresses affect the fishing communities whose fishing seasons are premised on predictable weather patterns and the movement of shoals.