This is owing to a number of reasons including their poor coping capacity attributable to socio-economic conditions, remoteness and unique physiographic attributes of the area they live in. No wonder the Nepali news media are often replete with stories such as loss of lives due to floods, slides and fires; drying up of traditional water sources; crop failure; and the reversal of tropical diseases like malaria. The villagers do try to resist the situation but the extremity even force these people to leave the area altogether in desperate quest of survival. Upsurge in crime rates in the cities and rampant growth of forest encroachment in the Tarai may be among the repercussions with implications to wider society.
RESPONSES
The world is of course concerned about the impending potential havoc brought about by climate change and is trying to fight with it by way of instituting a global mechanism through establishment of United Nation Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) since 1992. Though the level of achievement to date is not exciting, some attempts have been put into the system through deliberations in annual meeting of the Conference of Parties (COPs). Kyoto Protocol (KP) 1997 and Bali Action Plan (BAP) 2007 can be seen as important benchmark achievements.
Through KP, the majority of developed world agreed to reduce the global Green House Gas (GHG) emission, the major culprit of climate change, by 5.2 percent below 1992 level. Realizing the inadequacy of the KP, BAP agreed to do further homework with a focus both on mitigating climate change (reducing GHG level) and on adapting to its impacts.
Nepal’s response so far, though not remarkable, is not entirely undetectable. It has been regularly participating at the COPs and is doing some in-country preliminary works on climate change. Preparation of National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA 2010); Climate Change Policy (2011); and Readiness Preparation Proposal for carbon trading (called REDD-RPP 2010) are among the major engagements so far.
It is evident that the knowledge on climate science and the incumbent policy processes so far tend to start with the scientists and end at the level of the national and international governments. The ones who suffer most from climate change are least aware of what their national and international governments are intending to do on their behalf.
Government has also started some initiatives to streamlining climate change in development planning. Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR), the very first climate change adaptation project in the country, is being launched amidst controversy over its loan component. Some homework is also being done toward Institutional redesigning with a view to cater the new situation.
PARADOX
Despite the global awareness leading to attempts both in the national and international arena, the local peoples in Nepal are hardly aware about the basics of climate reality and the evolved policy processes. While it may sound paradoxical, the reality is that the local people – the first and probably the worst victims of climate change – are least aware about how the excessive emission of GHG from developed countries are affecting their life and livelihoods and what policy and program measures their nation state and the world is undertaking on their behalf.
THE ABC THAT PEOPLE MUST KNOW
This naturally calls for wider scale of information sharing endeavor with a focus at the grassroots. The thrust of such sharing may have three broad components a) basics of climate change; b) international policy process and the achievements till date; and c) national policy process, their achievements and planned institutional mechanism for implementation.
The fundamental of climate change is probably one of the most important essential things people need to know. Based on knowledge from International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and other credible sources, they must know whether the climate is actually changing; what is its extent and nature? What/who is attributable to this? What are the current levels of impacts and what is the possible trend? What may be the nature and extent of effects? How it might affect their livelihoods? How could they cope with the impending situation?
The other area important area would be international and national policy processes and its current state. The former would consist of UNFCCC negotiation process and outcomes including the current country positions and impasses. The latter would consist of nationally prepared documents such as Climate Change Policy, NAPA, Reduced Emission from Deforestation and Degradation Readiness Proposal (REDD-RPP). New climate change related projects and the country’s position on international negotiation is the other area such awareness program need to focus on.
The above knowledge would open the avenue regarding how they could engage themselves in the national and international policy processes. Hence the next focus of the awareness program should be on raising their self-confidence so that they can meaningfully contribute to the national and international policy process.
Lastly, but probably most importantly, they need to be helped toward reflecting on how they could cope with the impending climatic situations. This would eventually make a good basis for enabling local people to write their own adaptation strategies with adequate ownership leading to sustainable outcomes.
It is evident that the knowledge on climate science and the incumbent policy processes so far tend to start with the scientists and end at the level of the national and international governments. The ones who suffer most from climate change are least aware of what their national and international governments are intending to do on their behalf. Designing policy and programs on behalf of the people might not work no matter how good it might sound conceptually.
Unless we can properly address this issue, the funds that might find the way into the country in the name of climate change may simply be misused thus creating yet another level of frustration among the local people. We, without further delay, must start an empowerment focused awareness program whereby people eventually can influence the national and international policy processes. Grassroots institutions such as schools, community forest user groups, farmer groups, village cooperatives, mother groups and youth clubs may be the most appropriate entities to be covered by such empowerment focused initiatives.
The writer is Joint Secretary at Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation
baraljc@yahoo.com
Related story
Neighborhood-First policy needs to reach grassroots: Shyam Sara...
