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COLOMBO: Sri Lanka is exploring a potential partnership with the Middle East Green Initiative, Colombo’s envoy to Riyadh told Arab News on Saturday, as the island nation seeks to step up partnerships to combat climate change.

Sri Lanka — home to 22 million people — is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and is particularly at risk of extreme weather events, such as flooding and drought. 

On Monday, the Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh facilitated an introductory virtual meeting between its Ministry of Environment and the MGI secretary-general “to explore potential ways and means for cooperation and partnership in the fields of environmental protection and sustainable development,” according to a statement.   

Led by ����ֱ��, the MGI was established in 2021 as a regional alliance aimed at mitigating the impacts of climate change and forging collaborations to meet global climate targets in the region. 

“The MGI is an important regional initiative spearheaded by ����ֱ�� in combating challenges posed by climate change. We are pleased to see ����ֱ�� is giving a great leadership role in promoting climate action and environmental protection,” Ameer Ajwad, Sri Lanka’s envoy to ����ֱ��, told Arab News. 

Colombo is also keen to share its experience in climate resilience efforts.  

“Sri Lanka is actively contributing to the global multilateral climate initiatives. Sri Lanka's expertise and rich experience in the field will be also useful for the MGI process for fostering environmental collaboration and advancing shared climate objectives,” Ajwad said. “For example, Sri Lanka could contribute its expertise in the field of mangrove conservation and sea grass management, et cetera.” 

Sri Lanka has led several climate resilience efforts throughout the years, including restoration of its mangrove forests following the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. 

The country made a commitment to become the first to replant all of its mangrove forests — a goal the government sought to achieve by providing microloans and education to communities in exchange for mangrove conservation. 

In 2022, it launched the Sri Lankan Climate Prosperity Plan to attract foreign investment and accelerate climate adaptation while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

NEW DELHI: An Indian firm that shipped $1.4 million worth of an explosive compound with military uses to Russia in December said on Saturday it complies with Indian rules and the substance it had shipped was for civilian industrial purposes.

Reuters reported on July 24 that Ideal Detonators Private Limited shipped the compound, known as HMX or octogen, to two Russian explosives manufacturers despite US threats to impose sanctions on any entity supporting Russia’s Ukraine war effort.

One of the Russian companies listed in Indian customs data as receiving the compound is the explosives manufacturer Promsintez. An official at Ukraine’s SBU security service has said the Russian company has ties to the military and that Ukraine launched a drone attack in April against a Promsintez-owned factory.

Promsintez did not respond to a request for comment.

Ideal Detonators said in an emailed response to Reuters that the material it shipped was not military grade. “The shipment ... is for industrial activity and it’s a civil explosive,” the company said.

The US government has identified HMX as “critical for Russia’s war effort” and has warned financial institutions against facilitating any sales of the substance to Moscow.

The US Treasury Department has the authority to sanction those who sell HMX and similar substances to Russia, sanctions lawyers have said.

HMX is widely used in missile and torpedo warheads, rocket motors, exploding projectiles and plastic-bonded explosives for advanced military systems, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Technical Information Center and related defense research programs. The compound also has some limited civilian applications in mining and other industrial activities.