Himal Press 
Photo: RSS
KATHMANDU: President Ram Chandra Paudel has said that climate change has affected the whole planet, but its impacts have been especially severe in poor, least developed, developing nations and small island developing states (SIDS).
In his address at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP 29) on Climate Change in Baku on Tuesday, Paudel called for urgent operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, which is intended to support vulnerable developing countries. “Climate finance must recognize the contributions of countries like Nepal in protecting biodiversity, the Himalayan cryosphere as well as in supplying freshwater. These nations must also be adequately compensated for climate-related loss and damage,” he added.
Despite Nepal’s negligible carbon emissions, President Paudel said that the country was reeling from recent climate-related disasters like glacial lake outbursts and devastating floods that have caused tens of billions of rupees in damages. He emphasized that the scale of destruction is immense and presents a severe challenge given Nepal’s limited resources and capacity. “Nepal is committed to utilizing natural resources sustainably and prudently. As we implement our ambitious emission reduction target set out in the second NDC, contributing to the global well-being and protection of mother earth. We have increased forest cover and enhanced production and supply of clean energy, to mention a few of our efforts,” he said. “But the challenges precipitated by global warming and climate change far exceed our capacity and resources to manage them.”
The President also told the global community that Nepal has been forced to divert scarce resources from poverty reduction to climate adaptation and mitigation. “We are compelled to divert our meager resources, originally allocated for poverty reduction, towards adaptation and mitigation, which is a grave injustice. Urgent implementation of the ‘polluters pay and compensate’ principle is critical, and they must also take responsibility for reducing emissions,” he said. “While the pledges for climate funds have been insufficient to begin with, they have also remained unmet. It is even more distressing to note that the targeted communities do not receive the funds due to complicated processes.”
Paudel called for the urgent operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund to support vulnerable developing countries. He also requested adequate climate finance in the form of grants, technology transfer and capacity building to be provided through national treasuries to ensure effectiveness.
Highlighting the irony of vast global resources spent on arms versus climate action, Paudel urged the redirection of military spending towards protecting human civilization and bequeathing a habitable planet to future generations.
Stating that the impacts of climate change are not limited to the mountainous nations but also extend to the coastal ones, he called on the global community to formulate and implement integrated and holistic adaptation strategies that link mountains to the sea. “Nepal is organizing ‘Sagarmatha Sambad’—Everest dialogue—to advance this important concept,” he added.
