In the face of national disaster: The people of Sri Lanka demand revision of the agreement with the International Monetary Fund, debt and climate justice!

The people of Sri Lanka are demanding that the agreement with the International Monetary Fund be revised and that debt and climate justice be considered so that Sri Lanka can face the severe national crisis it is facing. The Colombo-based Law and Social Trust, which has paid close attention to the current crisis, has made several detailed demands to the government, along with the assurances of 38 organizations and social movements and 75 individuals. The letter with the demands submitted to the government is as follows.

Cyclone Ditwah has inflicted devastating impacts across Sri Lanka. As of December 6, 2025, the death toll exceeds 600, with several hundred still missing, thousands displaced, with massive property, infrastructure, and livelihood damages.

Ditwah builds on the frequency of climate change impact on tropical countries such as Sri Lanka and compounds the severity of the economic crisis, marked by a sovereign debt default of approximately USD 35  billion in 2022. While a majority of people are reeling under austerity measures, including regressive tax hikes, subsidy cuts, and inadequate social security measures, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) has become a prisoner of the ongoing Extended Fund Facility program of the IMF. The IMF controlling government spending not only restricts the ability of the government to respond to the ongoing humanitarian crisis, but severely impedes investing in infrastructure, recuperating livelihoods and adapting to further climate change impacts.

Ditwah underscores systemic climate injustice. Sri Lanka contributes less than 0.08% to global fossil carbon emissions yet suffers intensifying climate impacts, including floods, droughts, and landslides. Unsustainable development projects, and industrial mono-cultural cultivations have driven deforestation, soil degradation, and ecosystem disruption, promoting big capital and  global markets over local communities and indigenous peoples rights and are also responsible for Sri Lanka’s disproportionate debt burden.

Debt-financed mega-infrastructure projects such as the highways, deep-sea ports, & energy parks have bypassed environmental safeguards, displaced people, destroyed their livelihoods, heightened vulnerabilities, and fueled human-elephant conflicts, leaving marginalized groups, especially peasant  farmers, small scale fishers, plantation workers and pastoralists trapped in cycles of economic and ecological harm.

Recovery demands urgent revision of the debt restructuring agreement, massive debt reduction, and an immediate standstill on current and future debt servicing for Sri Lanka’s recovery. More climate finance as grants, not loans, alongside reparations from high-emitting nations are also needed. IMF conditions perpetuate a debt-climate trap, hindering building resilience and eroding social protections amid 6.3 million facing food insecurity. Cyclone Ditwah has severely disrupted agricultural production across Sri Lanka, waterlogging vast areas of cultivated land and damaging staple crops, creating significant risks for a large-scale food shortage in the coming months if urgent support for small-scale producers is not provided. Ensuring availability of food involves not only replenishing the markets through necessary food imports, but investing on small food producers such as peasant farmers, women, small fishers, plantation workers  and pastoralists whose backs are broken due to recurrent nature of climate disasters.

The government’s Rebuilding Sri Lanka Committee established under presidential control to assess requirements, set priorities, allocate resources and disburse funds for approved recovery activities comprises corporate leaders who are responsible for environmentally destructive energy projects, worker exploitation and microfinance debt traps. Without civil society or community representation, these corporate leaders whose track records prioritize shareholder value over social equity and ecological sustainability risk steering recovery toward profit-driven outcomes rather than people-centered restoration.

Global lessons from COP, Plastic Treaty, and Biodiversity COP negotiations reveal that while Indigenous and marginalized voices demand justice for people and the planet, dominant business interests at decision tables consistently block these priorities, paving the way for corporate capitalization on disasters.

Demands for Debt Justice and Climate Justice 

Sri Lankan civil society collectives, including social movements, trade unions, and advocacy groups demand an independent, multi-stakeholder loss and damage assessment (with representatives of affected communities and civil society accountable to those constituencies) quantifying Cyclone Ditwah impacts for reparations. Economic losses cover housing, agriculture, other livelihoods and infrastructure via replacement costs. Non-economic losses include Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) from deaths/injuries, biodiversity degradation in Ramsar wetlands, and cultural/heritage erosion for marginalized communities. Valuation uses ecosystem services, Human Rights-Based Approach (HRBA) metrics, and peer-reviewed standards, linking totals to debt cancellation offsets.

Civil society collectives further urge immediate action on the debt crisis triggered by the 2022 default on USD 35 billion in external obligations, including USD 14.7 billion in high-interest International Sovereign Bonds. Austerity measures under the IMF Extended Fund Facility, demanding a 2.3% primary surplus by 2025 and gross financing needs below 13% of GDP from 2027, have imposed subsidy removals, privatisation, and limitation of State spending harming vulnerable communities.

The Demands

– An inclusive loss and damage assessment led by affected communities with representatives from indigenous communities, small food producers, women, fishers, plantation workers, civil society organizations, technical experts, and government agencies must comprehensively quantify economic and non-economic impacts. 

– Halt energy subsidy removals, fuel market pricing, indirect tax hikes, and social welfare cuts (social protection at 0.6% GDP) that prioritize fiscal consolidation over Loss and Damage (L&D) recovery and climate resilience.

– Repudiate high-interest commercial debt from private creditors under IMF-monitored restructuring, offsetting against quantified L&D (USD 1-1.5B economic + non-economic priceless losses).

– Restructure IMF EFF conditionalities exempting loss and damage and climate investments from fiscal targets; redirect debt savings to finance recovery priorities; suspend all the measures that encourages the  privatization of state enterprises and natural resources that prioritize profit over public wellbeing.

– Reject currency devaluation, interest rate hikes (15.5% benchmark), public wage/employment limits that compound disaster vulnerability.

– Conduct a public audit of IMF-creditor restructurings, identifying odious debt from projects bypassing safeguards, calibrated against Cyclone Ditwah L&D framework.

– Regain sovereignty over the domestic economy by introducing democratic control over the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Ensure that the rebuilding programmes implemented after the cyclone disaster has a strong component of peoples’ participation and consultation, along with monitoring by important independent state bodies such as the Human Rights Commission and Women’s Commission, and most importantly is not handed over to big corporations to administer.

– Restructure the Sri Lankan economy by placing the interests of small food producers, workers, women, children and the ecology at the core.  

Organizations

1. Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research
2. All Ceylon Telecommunications Employees Union
3. Ampara District Alliance for Land Rights (ADALR)
4. Centre for Environmental Justice
5. Christian Workers Fellowship (CWF)
6. Climate Action Now Sri Lanka
7. Collective for Historical Dialogue & Memory
8. Dabindu Collective
9. EQUAL GROUND, Sri Lanka
10. Families of the Disappeared
11. Federation of Media Employees Trade Unions
12. FIAN Sri Lanka
13. Gami Seva Sevana (GSS)
14. Human Elevation Organization (HEO)
15. Institute of Political Economy
16. Law and Society Trust
17. LOAM – Lanka Organic Agricultural Movement
18. Mannar Women’s Development Federation
19. Movement for Land and Agriculture Reforms (MONLAR)
20. Movement for the Defence of Democratic Rights (MDDR)
21. Movement of Christian Women’s Voice (MoCWV)
22. Muslim Women Development Trust
23. National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO)
24. NGO National Action Front
25. People’s Alliance for Right to Land (PARL)
26. Praja Abhilasha Network
27. Revaluatory Existence for Human Development ( RED)
28. Scaling Up Nutrition People’s Forum
29. Shramabhimani Kendraya
30. Social Scientists’ Association
31. STANDUP Movement Lanka
32. Strategic Inspirations (Pvt) Ltd
33. Suriya Women’s Development Centre
34. The Biodiversity Project
35. Vikalpani National Women’s Federation
36. Voice of Plantation People
37. Women’s Action Network
38. Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA)

Individuals

1. Anushaya Collure
2. Anushka Kahandagamage, Postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Divinity School
3. Ashila Dandeniya
4. B.Gowthaman
5. Balasingham Skanthakumar, Polity
6. Brito Fernando, Human rights activist
7. Buwanaka Perera
8. Chandima Jayawardana
9. Chintaka Rajapakse
10. Chulani Kodikara, Independent Researcher
11. Crystal Baines, Social Scientists’ Association
12. D.A. Wasantha Pushpa Kumara
13. Deekshya Illangasinghe
14. Dr. Amali Wedagedara
15. Dr. Mahendran Thiruvarangan, University of Jaffna
16. Dr. Sepali Kottegoda
17. Dr. Tanuja Thurairajah
18. Duleeka Nonis
19. Ermiza Tegal, Attorney at Law
20. Gunawathie Hewagallage
21. Hasini Lecamwasam, University of Peradeniya
22. Indika Arulingam (PhD student, London School of Economics and Political Science)
23. Jacintha Subasinghe
24. Jenny Parameshwaran
25. K. Nihal Ahamed
26. Kasumi Ranasinghearchchige
27. Kaushalya Navaratne
28. krishna velupillai
29. Lakshman Gunasekara, Journalist
30. Lionel Bopage, Melbourne, Australia
31. Madhulika Gunawardena
32. Mansha Peiris
33. Mareen Srinika, Human rights activist
34. Melani Gunathilaka
35. Melani Manel Perera – Journalist
36. Nadheesha Hanwella
37. Nagulan Nesiah
38. Nigel Nugawela
39. Nilmini Nonis
40. Nimal I. Perera
41. Nisha Perera
42. Niyanthini Kadirgamar
43. Pasan Jayasinghe
44. Prof. Shamala Kumar
45. Rev Andrew Devadason, Clergy, Anglican church, Diocese of Colombo
46. Rohini Hensman, writer and independent scholar
47. Rosanna Flamer-Caldera
48. Rosita Fernando
49. Roy Rodrigo
50. Ruki Fernando
51. S.Sivagurunathan
52. Sahan Weerawardana
53. Sandun Thudugala
54. Sarah Arumugam
55. Shirani Cooray
56. Shivanthika Perera
57. Shreen Saroor – Human rights activist
58. Sister Berni De Silva
59. Sister Chrishanthi Basil
60. Sister Damitha De Silva
61. Sister Deepa Fernando
62. Sister Marian Evuesta
63. Sister Shamindani Fernando
64. Sister Shandika Perera
65. Sister Sharmani Fernando
66. Sister Shiromi Fernando
67. Sister Sujeewa Gunatilake
68. Sister Sumalki Fernando
69. Sivamohan Sumathy
70. Sujatha Perera
71. Vasuki Jeyasankar, Batticaloa,
72. Visakha Tillekeratne
73. Wasantha  Dissanayake

END/MMP/13122025