Two days after a massive rally of 400,000 in New York City pledging support for initiatives to reduce climate changes, Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, on Tuesday, took to the podium of the UN Climate Change Summit to highlight the risks faced by least developed countries. PM Koirala railed against rhetoric, illustrating the urgent need for action by the myriad problems Nepal already faces from climate change, including increased glacier melt, erratic weather patterns, and increased rainfall in short periods with large swathes of the wet seasons remaining dry. Koirala pointed to Nepal’s dependence on rain-fed agriculture, widespread poverty and deprivation, and lack of wherewithal as factors that place the country even more at risk from climate change.
Given the international scientific consensus on climate change, Koirala’s address was welcome, especially since Nepal is chair of the Least Developed Countries bloc at UN climate negotiations. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated almost categorically that global climate is definitely changing and that humans are the cause. The IPCC states that it is “extremely likely” (meaning a probability of over 95 percent) that humankind is the cause of observed global warming since 1950 and that there has been a clear human influence on the climate.
Koirala’s address was also important because of the fact that countries like Nepal, which have made virtually no contributions to climate change, are the ones most at risk. Climate change risk is especially acute for Least Developed Countries along oceans and bordering high mountains. Fortunately, recent years have seen a massive inflow of foreign aid specifically to address climate change. Since Nepal is not a significant carbon emitter but is ranked the fifth most vulnerable country to climate change, donors have focussed on adaptation. Accordingly, Nepal has come up with plan after plan, including the National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA), the Local Adaptation Programme of Action (LAPA), and the National Adaptation Plan.
Disappointingly, all these plans have remained consigned to paper. Disasters continue to occur with alarming frequency and the response, including rescue and relief, has been decidedly pitiful, as was evident with the recent floods in Mid-Western Nepal.
So while PM Koirala emphasised action over rhetoric from global actors in New York, it would be fitting to replicate the same back home. Adaptation plans cannot simply be used as cash cows to rake in more foreign aid; there is an urgent necessity to actually implement them. This means investing in early warning systems for disasters and putting in place substantial relief initiatives for those affected. There is also a need to integrate climate change perspectives into interconnected areas, including disaster management, water resources management and hydroelectricity, agroforestry and reforestration programmes. Climate change will need global consensus to address but Nepal, for its part, must do all it can to brace itself for the storm ahead.
16.12°C Kathmandu
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