As one of the most vulnerable zones on the earth, Nepal is most likely gearing up for the Climate Change Conference at Copenhagen in December, to demystify the high mountains as the first victims of Climate Change, Nepal’s diverse topography, fragile ecosystems and extreme poverty make it very vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. As visible the most significant impacts of climate change are shared by many countries across the Himalaya Region and all of South Asia. It will require communication, cooperation and joint actions to address these common threats.
A study by IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) says that Nepal’s key vulnerabilities to climate change are water and biodiversity. Earlier snow melt and ensuing changes to water availability could affect hydropower infrastructure and efficiency. While Nepali rivers can potentially provide 43,000 MW of electricity, changing rainfall patterns and timing of snow melting could reduce this potential.182 Rainfall patterns are also changing, and intense rainfall has been difficult for people living in traditionally built flat-roofed houses made of mud and stone. Roof leakage and wall erosion are major problems, particularly for low-income families who cannot afford to repair their homes.
Not only the himlayas, the forests and agriculture are at risk and human health could also be affected by climate change. For example, mosquitoes may move to higher altitudes due to warmer temperatures, carrying with them greater risk of malaria, and water-borne diseases could increase during disaster events. Climate change could increase levels of Japanese encephalitis and kala-azar.
Severe climate change impacts on Nepal are projected; however, there are unique opportunities for compensation for environmental services as our country is a potential key to adaptation in the river basins through adoption of renewable and/or clean energy development path including hydroelectricity development and forest management.
The high mountains generally go undermined in the global scenario. The issues of developed countries like Maldives and Thailand are generally focused. "More than 1.3 billion People in Asia are affected by the Himalayas because of the changing weather patterns and increased sea level," says Dr. Siddhartha Bajrachrya, the Executive officer of NTNC, National Trust for Nature Conservation. Nepal has around 3,250 glaciers, and hundreds of millions of people in South Asia depend on the rivers they help to sustain. Since 1964, there have been more than 13 reported glacial lake outbursts causing damage to livestock, property, environmental resources and infrastructure in Nepal’s mountain areas. Himalayan glaciers are receding faster than in any other part of the world, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the resulting meltwater could trigger flooding, avalanches and the destruction of land within a few decades.
According to a 28 August 2009 report by aid agency Oxfam, millions of rural poor in Nepal could face hunger because of the effects of climate change. It said changing weather patterns, including an increase in extreme temperatures, more intense rainfall and increased unpredictability, had dramatically reduced crop production. Farmers were increasingly unable to properly feed themselves, and were sinking into debt.
With the primary objective to provide a forum for the countries of the South Asia Himalayas and other countries in the region to share knowledge and experience about common climate change risks and forge a common vision on how to tackle the Himalayan climate challenges the Government of Nepal is hosted a Regional Climate Conference supported by ADB, DANIDA, DFID, and the World Bank titled "Kathmandu to Copenhagen," from August 31 to September 1, 2009. It brought together Ministers, high level officials, climate change experts, and key civil society members around the theme of climate change and the South Asian Himalayas.
In 2012 the Kyoto Protocol to prevent climate changes and global warming runs out. To keep the process on the line there is an urgent need for a new climate protocol. At the conference in Copenhagen 2009 the parties of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Conventions on Climate Change) meet for the last time on government level before the climate agreement need to be renewed. Therefore the Climate Conference in Copenhagen is essential for the world's climate and the Danish government and UNFCCC is putting hard effort in making the meeting in Copenhagen a success ending up with a Copenhagen Protocol to prevent global warming and climate changes. Governmental representatives from 170 countries are expected to be in Copenhagen in the days of the conference accompanied by other governmental representatives, NGO's, journalists and others. In total 8000 people are expected to Copenhagen in the days of the climate meeting.
"A good delegation is expected to represent Nepal in the conference," said Ngamindra Dahal, a climate Change Expert. "Five thematic issues are likely to be discussed from both LDC (Least developed countries) and Nepal's Mountain-centric perspective." Position papers are prepared on the thematic issues of climate adaptation, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD), Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), Financial mechanism and technology transfer, informed climate change expert Ngamindr Dahal.
As the week long programme in Copenhagen coincides with the International Mountains day on December 11 a "Summiteers summit to Save the Himalayas" is scheduled on the same day with 25 summiteers from Nepal and many others summiteers invited from other parts of the world, to join the rally on the roads of Copenhagen. A photo exhibition on the 'Changing Himalayas' by ICIMOD and talk programmes are also in the list of do's in the conference. "We will try to draw global attention on the issues of melting himlayas and the communities and people affected by it," said Dr. Bajrchcrya. "It should also be brought into limelight that the cause of melting and changing Himalayas again are the industrialized and developed countries and not the inhabitants of the Himalayas," added Dr. Bajracharya.
The policy makers have seen to be highly involved for the upcoming and hopefully promising meet at Copenhagen. But it's high time we start to walk the talk. The results are highly awaited with the hopes that the issues from Nepal will be totally addressed.
