COP19 faces new challenges for least developed countries like Nepal

The 19th UN climate change conference  Conference of the Parties (CoP) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) is being held in the Poland capital Warsaw from November 11-22. With high expectation this year the Nepali Delegation team  lead the  Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at  CoP19. The delegation not only faces huge responsibilities of raising voice against the climate change effects but at diplomacy level it also hold responsibilities of securing funds for combating climate change effects in the region.  In last  December, Nepal was officially granted the  leadership of the LDC group for the year 2013-14.

Nepal currently represents 49 LDCs at a global forum overcoming the different climate change issued faced both at mitigation and adaptation stages.

The conference has been participated by 200 countries where climate change diplomacy is going on to
 negotiate a new agreement in due replacement of the expiry of the Kyoto Protocol.

At the launch of the report, IPCC Working Group 1 co-chair Thomas Stocker informed: “Global surface temperature change for the end of the 21st century is projected to be likely to exceed 1.5°C relative to 1850 to 1900 in all but the lowest scenario considered, and likely to exceed 2°C for the two high scenarios. Heat waves are very likely to occur more frequently and last longer. We have nearly crossed the threshold of the projected world average temperature rise of 1.5°C. The IPCC report further states that it is 95 percent certain that human induced climate change is increasing temperature, glacier melting, sea level rise and extreme weather events globally.”

In this context, COP19 needs to urgently deliver on a number of fronts to tackle the problem both in the long and short terms. The LDC Group  highlighted  that this COP would have to deliver on four major fronts:
1) Reducing carbon emission so that the world is on a relatively safer path;
2) Increasing the level of finance for the developing countries to address climate impacts;
3) Establishing an international mechanism on loss and damage to address issues not covered under adaptation;
4) Agreeing on a clear road map on how the negotiations will progress to produce a deal in 2015. All these issues are seen as politically thorny and are likely to invite heated negotiations when the conference starts next week.

Securing climate change fund, the conference also facilitates the  implementation of its National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA). The NAPA, approved by the government in 2010, is a US $ 350 million program, which, under several sectors and profiles, aims at empowering the local people to adapt to climate change.

In addition to securing climate change fund for the NAPA´s implementation, Nepal is responsible for raising common issues of the LDCs, too. While some LDCs, like Nepal, are mountain countries and face risks of climate-induced disasters, including Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), other countries, like Bangladesh, face threats from rising sea-level.

An initiation to combat Glacial Lake Outburst Risk

Highlighting the risk of community based flooding and glacial lake outburst, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) signed  an agreement with Nepal Government to minimize the threats of climate change.

The Community Based Flood and Glacial Lake Outburst Risk Reduction Project (CBFGLOF), is a joint program under  Nepal government and UNDP‚ which will directly benefit the people living in the alert zone.

The project will contribute to Nepal’s National Adaptation Plan of Action’s (NAPA) Profile 3 and 4 ‘Community-Based Disaster Management for Facilitating Climate Adaptation’ and ‘GLOF Monitoring and Disaster Risk Reduction’ respectively.A community-based early warning system to build resilience to flood and GLOF risk would also be installed during the project.

Ministry of Science‚ Technology and Environment (MoSTE)‚ will implement the plans under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM)where the funding will be invested by Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) managed by Global Environment Facility (GEF) and UNDP which totals US$ 7.2 million for a duration of four years from 2013 to 2017.

The project aims to reduce human and material losses from Glacier Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) events in Solukhumbu district and catastrophic flooding events in the Tarai and Churia Range of Nepal.

The project targets to reduce GLOF risk from Imja Lake that threatens livelihood of downstream communities of the Sagarmatha National Park‚ including its buffer zone. An innovative artificially controlled drainage system would be placed to reduce the lake level by minimum three metres. Likewise‚ a complementary second component has been planned to reduce human and property loss in four districts in the Tarai and Churia Range‚ specifically Mahottari‚ Saptari‚ Siraha and Udaypur that experience recurrent flooding .