KATHMANDU, Nov 5: As the stage is all set in Azerbaijan for the annual World Climate Conference, COP29, Nepal has finalized its agenda to be raised at the event.
President Ram Chandra Paudel is scheduled to attend the UN climate conference being held in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22.
Chief of the climate change division at the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Dr Sindhu Prasad Dhungana, informed Republica that Nepal had finalized the agenda to be presented at COP29. According to him, loss and damage, mountain region and climate finance would be the top agenda which were underlined in the national status paper after collecting suggestions with the formation of various groups focusing on carbon trade, climate finance, mitigation, adaptation, capacity building, gender equality, transparency and good governance.
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In order to draw world attention to climate change impacts in Nepal, a high level session would be held under the chairmanship of President Paudel during COP29 on November 13, according to Minister for Forest and Environment, Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri. Nepal had got permission from the UNFCCC for holding a separate session during the major event.
The session will feature 'addressing loss and damage in the mountain region'. It is expected that the session would be attended by UN officials, representatives from mountainous countries, and development partners, among others. The pressing issues Nepal faced relating to loss and damage including in Melamchi, Mustang, Kanchanpur, Thame and Kathmandu Valley would be shared on the occasion.
Dhungana further said that LDCs would hold a group round discussion on November 5-6, while G77+ China will meet on November 9-10. Nepal will attend both of these.
Member of the Environment Conservation and Climate Change Management Council, Bimal Regmi, informed Republica that Nepal should raise issues of present national interests and needs where the Himalayas come on top.
As a party to the UNFCCC, Nepal has been continuously attending COP, preparing national adaptation plans, sharing climate ambitions and reminding the industrialized countries to pay heed to the urgency of climate change in LDCs and low-resource countries.
The ministry’s Secretary Dr Dipak Kumar Kharal observed that COP29 was significant for Nepal also because 'climate finance' and 'carbon credit' are major agendas of the summit.
