Everest cabinet

The Maoists may be interested in government change but the cabinet instead chose to focus on and draw the attention of the world to climate change and held a historic meeting at Kala Patthar (5,200 meters above sea level), near Everest Base Camp. The meeting, a first of its kind, has adopted a 10-point Everest Declaration and asked the developed countries to help poor countries fight the adverse impact of climate change. A good number of studies have shown that the global warming prompted mainly by excessive greenhouse-gas emissions into the atmosphere has led to a rapid meltdown of glaciers in the Himalayas, impacting the livelihoods of people in the region. Melting of glaciers, coupled with erratic monsoons caused by climate change, are adding to the challenge posed by already precarious food security and water supply in developing countries.



It’s the developed countries that emit a disproportionate share of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and are therefore mainly responsible for the climate change threatening mother earth. Unfortunately, the impact of climate change falls disproportionately on the poor in the developing world because they are so much more vulnerable and have no safety nets. The developed world must do a lot more to cut down their carbon emissions and also to help developing countries cope with global warming and its consequences. Big emerging economies like China, India, Brazil and Russia must also do their part to contribute to stabilizing global climate. China and India, both going through rapid industrialization, are also among the big emitters, and sandwiched between these two manufacturing giants, Nepal feels the brunt.



In adopting the Everest Declaration the government not only called for action by others—and didn’t just shift the burden elsewhere—but took some concrete decisions to contribute to improving the environment. It announced an increase in the conservation area in Nepal to 25 percent from the current 20 percent, and decided to add Api Nampa of Darchula district and Gaurishankar Area in Dolakha district as new conservation areas.



Back in Kathmandu some people have criticized the Kala Patthar meeting as an unnecessary and extravagant exercise. Goes the argument – there are other pressing issues on which the government should have concentrated. They completely miss the point. People often tend to underestimate the threat of climate change because there is no sense of immediacy to it; however, no threat in the long run could be more devastating. The cabinet meeting at Everest also brought good international press coverage such as Nepal seldom gets and all this has happened without any cost to the taxpayer. So, why criticize it? There are many awful things that the government is doing, or the parties in government and parties outside the government are up to. Why not concentrate the criticism on such things instead?

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