The world is experiencing increased global air and ocean temperature, melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea-level. The factors contributing to environmental hazards have not been precisely and sufficiently studied in Nepal. There is no periodic review by the government on the implication of environment-development linkages.
Nepal is alarmingly vulnerable to the potential negative impact from environmental degradation. Significant warming at higher elevations has led to reduction in snow and ice coverage. Quite a few lakes formed by retreating glaciers are estimated to be in a dangerous state and might burst. Nepal has 3,252 glaciers covering an area of 5,323 sq km. It can be an important sector to be studied in finding out the impact of climate change in Nepal’s mountain resources. Special efforts with urgent policy alternatives are needed to safeguard and balance the long Himalayan range.
Nepal ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in May 1994. The Kyoto Protocol was signed in September 1995. Periodic plan document is the major source of policies in Nepal. Nepal Agriculture Policy 2005 (NAP-2005) speaks about natural resources and environment conservation without distinctly mentioning green technology. As the policy is silent about implementing strategies, it is difficult to assess the impact on poverty, sustainable development and the promotion of green technology. The provision of financial concessions and technical services for using fertilizers and pesticides in country’s Three Year Interim Plan (TYIP, 2007-10) needs to be further elaborated to make sure it does not go contrary to maintaining environmental sustainability.
In the first TYIP, four programs have been identified such as wind energy, bio-energy, solar energy, and small and micro-hydro programs to promote renewable energy in Nepal. However, there are no categorical policies that may support the adoption of technology in general. As Nepal has begun to suffer from adverse impacts on climate change, it in collaboration with United Nations Development Program entered into an agreement to officially start the National Adaptation Program of Action (NAPA) formulation process in November 2008 with a target to complete it by April 2010.
It is a multi-disciplinary process that aims at responding to climate change by identifying urgent and immediate priority activities with regards to adaptation to climate change. Major areas for NAPA include agriculture and food security, climate-induced disaster; forests and bio-diversity, water resources and energy and public health and urban settlements. The impact assessment of NAPA including the budgetary support to utilize existing knowledge, practices and innovation by developing local management strategies especially in agro-biodiversity front should be the priority. Imparting knowledge on conservation-based ecological farming, including sustainable soil and nutrient management practices, can be such examples.
The demand for cereals in the developing countries is expected to increase by 59 percent in the next 25 years. Such projection is linked with the factors responsible for damaging the environment. In Nepal, productivity of major cereals is lowest in the region. Paddy has the lowest yield of approximately 2,700 kg/ha (in Bangladesh, it is around 4,000 kg/ha).
Higher degree of urbanization and rapid population growth contributes to government’s failure in developing sustainable agriculture by reducing environmental degradation. The visible wave of rural to urban migration indicates much higher growth in urban population (currently, average annual growth rate of urban population is 5.2 percent and annual growth rate of population remains at 2.1 percent).
Kathmandu Valley Environmental Outlook also elaborates the tide of environmental degradation because of haphazardly growing urbanization without planned infrastructure, poorly-planned land development and insufficient coordination among government agencies. The critical environmental problems include solid waste and wastewater management, poor air quality and traffic management, degradation of water resources, and weak disaster preparedness. This should be the nation’s environmental priority for immediate action.
Technology has developed that can save the environment without sacrificing growth to a greater extent. The efforts in developing technology-driven energy as an alternative agriculture technology (both technology efficiency and cost efficiency) by advancing solar, wind, and bio-energy is gaining ground. Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that only 20 percent production expansion is linked to agricultural land expansion and 80 percent to yield increases. Land expansion for increasing productivity is not simple. Between 1984 and 2000, agricultural land in the valley decreased from 62 percent to 42 percent. Given the continuation of such decrease, the Kathmandu Valley Environmental Outlook 2010 of United Nations Environment Program states that by 2025 there will be no agricultural fields left in the valley. Additionally, Asian Development Bank’s estimate shows that land use per person will fall from 0.17 hectares in 1990 to 0.12 hectares in 2010. It reiterates the need for the adoption of Green Technology to increase agricultural output without depleting presently available resources beyond the point of recovery.
Affordable technology for renewable energy in Nepal is solar photovoltaic. This technology converts sunlight into electricity using semi conductor modules. Although wind energy contributes only 1 percent of global electricity generation, some countries and regions are already producing up to 20 percent. It produces less air pollutants or greenhouse gases. In Nepal, river corridors have been observed to have high wind potential for the execution of windmill. Biofuel as bio-ethanol and bio diesel have the potential to assume an important portfolio in future energy platter. Jatropha, a non-edible oilseed bearing shrubs, is estimated to be climatically favorable in 30 percent of Nepal’s land.
Nepal has difficulty in earmarking counterpart fund to address the challenges facing the alternative energy sector, which is only partly funded by the donors. The problem is also linked to the connection of small and micro-hydro power plants to the national grid; increased utilization of micro hydropower for productive uses besides its use in meeting household consumption, and integration of alternative energy in the development plan of local institutions and their capacity-building.
Setting up a green fund in coping with climate change and halting deforestation has not yet been satisfactorily done. Therefore, the fear that next meeting on climate change will be halted and the entire UN process would collapse is now over since about 190 countries categorically agreed to cut carbon emissions. One should hope the success is not measured only by the acceptance of developed countries to agree on the extension of Kyoto Protocol while poor countries sign up to emission cuts to a given level.
bishwambher@yahoo.com
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