When will Nepal’s high-level bodies on climate change work actively?

Published On: August 10, 2022 03:45 PM NPT By: SHREE RAM SUBEDI


Not a single meeting of the National Council on Environment Protection and Climate Change Management has not been since it was formed three years ago

KATHMANDU, August 10: Although the Environment Protection Act 2076 provides for the National Council on Environment Protection and Climate Change Management under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister, its meeting has not yet been held. Nor has it been possible to appoint eight other members of the council apart from the ex-officio members as stipulated by the law implemented three years ago.

The Minister for Forests and Environment, three other ministers appointed by the Prime Minister, chief ministers of all seven provinces, environment monitoring member of the National Planning Commission, two professors of forest and environmental sciences, three environment and climate experts and the secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment are the members of the Council chaired by the Prime Minister. The secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment is the member-secretary of the Council. The Act says, "There will be a National Council for Environment Protection and Climate Change Management under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister to carry out the work related to environment protection and climate change effectively at the national level."

Likewise, the Climate Change Policy 2076 also mentions that 'a council will be formed to coordinate policy on climate change at the national level' under the institutional structure. Providing necessary policy guidance to the provincial and local government in the works related to environmental protection and climate change, providing guidance to the ministries and other agencies by integrating issues related to the environment and climate change in Nepal's long-term policies, plans and programs and managing financial resources and pollution control, waste management, the Council is responsible for setting policies for the development of a national system for heritage conservation.

Raju Pandit, director of the Prakriti Resources Center, which is working in the field of climate change, argues that the government is not serious about addressing climate change because the council has not been completed and the council meeting has not been held for three years.

Citing cases where high-level leaders of various countries visiting Nepal include the issue of climate change in every discussion, he says, “Since Nepal is at the highest risk in terms of climate-related disasters, it has become necessary to make climate change an integral part of foreign policy.''

Experts have already argued that a high-level government structure or agency is needed in Nepal to address the issue of climate change, which is becoming nationally and internationally important. In some cases, there is even tension between various ministries on this issue. Although the Climate Change Management Division at the Ministry of Forests and Environment is the focal body on climate change issues, there is a complaint that this division is not playing a sufficient role in inter-ministerial cooperation and coordination. Similarly, although an inter-ministerial coordination committee has been set up under the coordination of the Ministry of Forest and Environment to coordinate on climate change issues, this committee, too, has been passive.

A total of 64 priority adaptation programs have been prepared including eight thematic and four interdisciplinary areas determined by Nepal's National Climate Change Policy 2076. The government estimates that implementing these adaptation programs will require a total of USD 47.4 billion by the year 2050. Out of this amount, Nepal can contribute a total of USD 1.5 billion by mobilizing internal resources and the remaining USD 45.9 billion will need external resources, according to the climate change policy.

In this context, experts believe that there are options to deal with the challenges brought by climate change and to mobilize the necessary financial resources, the formation of a separate Ministry of Environment and Climate, the formation of a National Environment Commission as in Bhutan, or the formation of a separate secretariat under the Council to make the work of the Council under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister effective. Similar to the arrangement of two secretaries in the Ministry of Finance, there is a possibility that a separate secretary to deal with environment and climate change can be arranged in the Ministry of Forests and Environment, or a separate department can be formed within the ministry to deal with climate change.

Climatologist Dr Bimal Regmi argues that a powerful structure is necessary to address climate change and to fulfill the commitments made by Nepal in the international arena. He believes that the National Council for Environment Protection and Climate Change Management, as provided by the Environmental Protection Act 2076, can be activated as a secretariat. Speaking at the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 26) held last year in Glasgow, UK, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said that Nepal would reduce its carbon emissions to zero by 2045; By the year 2030, 15 percent of the total demand for energy will be met by clean energy and the area occupied by coal will increase to 45 percent.

Prime Minister's newly-appointed adviser on climate change, Madhav Karki believes that as much as possible the institution should be 'retrofitted' but new structures can also be created by 'reviewing what the existing structures are doing'. “The Council chaired by the Prime Minister has linked environment and climate and it can be made more effective. This is a matter connected with many ministries, agencies and stakeholders,” said Dr Karki. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Forests and Environment, Meghnath Kafle, said that in the near future, the National Council for Environment Protection and Climate Change Management will meet and the vacant members will be nominated. "We are doing homework for the council meeting and completion," said Kafle.

Even though Nepal's contribution to greenhouse gas emission, including that of carbon dioxide, which is responsible for the increase in the temperature of the earth, is negligible, Nepal is at the forefront of the list of countries that are at risk due to climate and the 'odd rains' seen in the Himalayan region; intensification of glacial melt; massive fire in forests; floods and landslides in hill and mountain areas; floods in the lowlands; natural disasters such as floods and drought are believed to be directly related to climate change.

Meanwhile, according to a study published in the scientific journal ‘Nature Climate Change’ on Monday, out of a total of 375 infectious diseases affecting humans, 218 are seen to be aggravated by climatic disasters. Studies have shown that climatic disasters such as floods, hot winds and droughts have increased the incidence of diseases such as Malaria, Hantavirus, Cholera and Anthrax.


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