Given the reality that the energy sector is a well-known driver of global warming, Nepal’s per capita greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from energy use is unsurprisingly one of the lowest in the world. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is considered to be the major contributor to GHGs due to mass burning of fossil fuels for transport, residential use, energy generation and industrial activities. Nepal released 780,206 tons of CO2 (t/CO2) from energy use in 1981. As of 2004, the figure reached to 3,043,000 tons of CO2, which was less than 0.1 percent of total global CO2 emission. On the other hand, the US released 22.2 percent of total CO2 emissions followed by China with 18.4 percent, European Union with 14.7 percent and India with 4.9 percent. The per capita (CO2) emissions was 0.11 tons for Nepal in 2004 while the numbers were 20.4 tons for the US, 3.84 tons for China and 1.20 tons for India. Thus, the data over the years suggest that our contribution towards global warming is negligible. A low use of coal, often considered as the dirtiest fuel among all energy sources, has also helped in maintaining such a low emissions level.
The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol, is an interesting avenue for countries like Nepal to attract finances in coping with the adverse effects of climate change.
At the other end, data also depicts low energy consumption in the country, which is one of the inputs for economic growth. The energy-dependent residential, transport and industrial sectors are deprived of much-needed energy. The demand for electricity itself is growing at 10 percent annually. Only 40 percent of the current population has access to electricity while just 2 percent of the total energy demand is met by electricity. Similarly, renewable energy sources, which include small-scale hydropower generating less than 100 KW of electricity, meet 1 percent of the national energy demand. Nine percent of Nepalis’ energy demand is met by wholly-imported petroleum products and about 80 percent by biomass fuel.
A sector-specific analysis of energy-consuming sectors suggests that the residential sector contributed 37 percent of the total GHG emissions in 2003. Similarly, the share of the industrial and transport sector was 31 percent and 20 percent respectively. The trend has remained the same over time as the majority of rural households primarily rely on carbon and methane rich fuel such as wood, crop residues and animal manure for their daily purpose. The emissions from the transportation sector probably have increased over time with a growing demand for automobiles, which has further contributed to immense traffic congestion.
Nonetheless, as the Nepali GHG emissions from Nepal are trivial, our national priority should not be global but the local environment. Spending the scare resources in implementing the emission-mitigation measures can be futile and spurious. Adaptation to climate change is where our environmental policy should be anchored upon. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol, is an interesting avenue for countries like Nepal to attract finances in coping with the adverse effects of climate change. Under CDM, industrialized countries with a greenhouse gas reduction commitment are allowed to invest in projects that reduce emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions in their own countries. CDM can fill perceived financing gap for promotion of renewable forms of energy at a time when its share is just 2 percent of total energy supplied in the country.
Distributed and off-grid energy generation like solar and biogas can not only increase rural access to energy but also reduce the share of fossil fuel and traditional fuel consumption in the country. Nepal has already benefited from two biogas projects qualified under this novel mechanism but the real challenge lies in attracting CDM investment in the hydro sector where the country has immense potential. Also, CDM can also benefit the waste-management sector in the country by providing the required monetary resources.
Landfill gas management remains one of the most popular approved projects under CDM so as to regulate methane emissions. If so, the CDM has a clear role in promoting clean energy for domestic as well as industrial uses in Nepal. Overall, the CDM arrangement is an alternative way for developed nations to mobilize the funds among the developing nations while it also sends a positive signal towards climate change commitments. But, what exactly is at stake for developing nations will be the follow-up to the provisions made in Kyoto Protocol as 181 countries are meeting in Copenhagen to slug out a post-Kyoto protocol this December.
One likely verdict I could imagine out of December’s meet is a unanimous lamentation of the fact that enough damage has been already done towards the climate. On the other hand, I think, the basic tenet of climate damage will again be overlooked. By claiming this, I am not referring to gigantic aspects like earth geo-engineering and ocean fertilization to combat climate change. As known to all, Dr RK Pachauri in his famous Nobel lecture urged every human to be a vegetarian simply because the whole process of meat production is carbon-intensive. While he might be right, positive change in attitudes such as switching off the lights when not needed and dumping the waste where it is supposed to be could also help in easing the existing pressures on climate. Behavioral changes is a necessary route towards adapting to climate change and, believe me, we also have some role to play in it.
(Writer is an academic researcher in Energy Economics at WIK GmbH, Germany.)
rabindra.nepal@gmail.com
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