July. 2014. Vol. 4, No.3 ISSN 2307-227X International Journal of Research In Social Sciences © 2013-2014 IJRSS & K.A.J. All rights reserved www.ijsk.org/ijrss 59 CLIMATE RESPONSES OF LOCAL AUTHORITIES: A CASE OF SRI LANKAN COASTAL URBAN AREAS P.K.S. Mahanama 1 , C.Chethika. Abenayake 2 , Amila Jayasinghe 3 , P.K.B.D.B. Bandara 4 1 Dean, Faculty of Architecture,University of Moratuwa, Katubedda, Sri Lanka. 2&3 Lecturer, Department of town and country planning, Faculty of Architecture,University of Moratuwa, Katubedda, Sri Lanka. 4 Research assistant, Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Katubedda, Sri Lanka. mahanama_pks@yahoo.com amilabjayasinghe@gmail.com dilekabandara@gmail.com ABSTRACT This study is mainly focused on providing an overview of the current status of awareness and practice of Sri Lankan coastal urban local authorities regarding the integrating climate change responses at local level. Not only about what is known, but also about the existing gaps in their knowledge and new directions for future works in this area has been pointed as there is a strong interaction between successful adaptation to climate change and sustainable local development. Keywords: Climate Change, Local Authorities, Urban Planning 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Background of the study Climate change has been universally recognized as a fundamental human development challenge in the 21st century which influence on social, physical, economic as well as environmental aspects of human life. Sri Lanka, as a developing country with a tropical climate pattern, has high vulnerability for the impacts of climate change including extreme weather conditions which records during unpredicted or unexpected periods of the year. Many of the urban areas in the world have already experienced the impacts of climate change. Since different parts of the world have predicted to be affected by climate change in varying degrees, many of the urban studies are focused on immediate climate change responses. The vulnerability of individuals and communities to climate change impacts is not simply determined by the location of their settlements, but also by how those settlements are serviced, how effective and capable their local governments are and to what extent communities are able to cope with climate change impacts (Laukkonen.J et.al, 2008).The quality of government at the local level has a potentially significant impact on climate risk. Municipal governments are responsible for decisions on provision of infrastructure, disaster preparedness and disaster response, and city development planning (Huq et al., 2007). However, recent evidence suggests that many municipal governments do not have adequate provisions in order to deal with increased climate hazards (Action Aid, 2006). In Sri Lankan context, although there are number of programs and projects have been implemented to cope with the effects of climate change, most of them are framed at the regional and national levels except a few projects funded by INGOs and multilateral organizations such as UN-HABITAT, Aus Aid. In our opinion, following a bottom – up approach, which have better ability to make improvements and alterations; as well as delegating powers and functions from central to local government tiers can give better results in climate change response. “Climate change affects every aspect of development— agriculture, energy, infrastructure, everything we do. This means we must integrate climate-smart planning into every activity— from food security to disaster preparedness to economic growth—every dollar we invest should build climate resilience and, when possible, reduce greenhouse gas emissions” (Batten.K, 2013).Climate change is likely to impact virtually all countries and all economic development activities, from tourism to energy, agriculture,