Limit Impacts Of Climate Change

Climate change has taken on formidable proportions as a global problem. There is virtually no country that has not been impacted by climate change. Anthropogenic activities are largely to blame for the ever-growing hazards associated with climate change. In fact, man has to live within the limits of the earth.  When the limits are breached, many untoward phenomena may have to be faced. The effects of climate change have surfaced since the 1800s. With the Industrial Revolution, human made remarkable progress on various fronts. At the same time, various problems have also cropped up, with climate change being one of the formidable ones.

Burning fossil fuels – coal, gas and oil – results in greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide and methane. Such gases trap the sun’s heat in the atmosphere, thus raising temperatures. Clearing land and forests can give rise to carbon dioxide. Likewise, landfills generate methane. Energy, industrial, transport, construction and land-use sectors are the main emitters of harmful gases. 

Greenhouse emissions

The level of greenhouse gas emissions differs from country to country. A hundred least emitting countries produce just three per cent of the total emissions, while the ten largest emitters produce a whopping 68 per cent of the total emissions. Realising the exigency with which to cope with the growing emissions, world leaders have formulated various mechanisms such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Climate Agreement for controlling emissions. There is a global goal of limiting the global warming to an increment of 1.5 degrees Celsius but the temperature is expected to increase by 3.2 degrees Celsius by the turn of this century. 

It may be noted that Nepal ratified the Paris Climate Agreement and its Second Naturally Determined Communication (NDC) in 2020. Nepal’s Second Natural Communication to the UNFCCC (2014) (NC2) has identified the country’s energy, agriculture, water resources, forestry, biodiversity and the health sector as the most vulnerable to climate change. The Asian Development Bank has predicted that Nepal will lose 2.2 per cent of its annual gross domestic product (GDP) to climate change by 2050. 

Countries around the world have pledged themselves to attain net zero emissions by 2050. For this, half of the emission cuts must be in place by 2030 to keep the temperature below an increment of 1.5 degrees Celsius. And the use of fossil fuels must be reduced by 6 per cent per year during the 2020s. Moreover, developed countries should financially help developing and least developed countries adapt to climate change impacts. Industrialised countries have made a commitment to grant US$ 100 billion a year to developing nations to enable the latter to adapt to climate change impacts. 

Nepal, a least developed country, is also experiencing the impacts of climate change. Nepal is a small country but has climatic diversity from the frigid temperature in the Himalayan region to the tropical temperature in the Terai region, with the temperate temperature in the mid-hills. The repercussions of climate change are heavy precipitation or drought, floods, landslides, soil erosion, wildfires and the like. Changes in monsoon patterns in Nepal have surfaced. 

The major impact of climate changes falls on the agricultural sector. Agriculture is the mainstay of the Nepali economy. Around 65 per cent of the population is still engaged in agricultural and allied activities. For lack of adequate irrigation facilities, most farmers are compelled to depend on rain for their farming activities. With climate change-induced monsoon patterns, farmers have been the victims of erratic rains. Climate change may also change the course of rivers. The change in the course of the Saptakoshi River may be due to climate change. 

As per a study, Nepal is likely to experience fluctuations in climate. There may be an increase in temperature in the mid-hills, making them arid in the non-monsoon season. Precipitation is likely to be uncertain. Some places may receive heavy rain, while others may experience drought. Storms may also increase in intensity. Nepal’s National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA), 2010 recognises that climate will be uncertain, which will increase vulnerabilities, especially among the farmers. 

Adverse effects

Nepal’s agricultural system is not well-developed. Most farmers are engaged in small-scale and subsistence agriculture. It is such farmers as are greatly impacted by climate change. This is because they have to depend on rain rather than irrigation facilities. Twenty-one per cent of the area of Nepal is arable. The percentage of people engaged in agriculture has dwindled from over 90 per cent in the past to around 65 per cent now. Adverse effects of climate change, together with lack of irrigation facilities and an inadequate supply of seeds and fertilisers, may force even more people off the agricultural sector. 

So it is high time the government took concrete measures to lessen the impacts of climate change. The government should formulate effective strategies to adapt to climate change. If such measures are not taken in time, the impacts of climate may further worsen the socio-economic conditions of the poor and create unequal opportunities among people. As such, response mechanisms should be developed at federal, state and local levels to cope with the impacts of climate change. Such mechanisms can also be fallen back upon to deal with natural disasters such as floods and landslides. Lessening the impacts of climate change is essential for maintaining the quality of life of the poor by ensuring decent means of livelihood for them. 

(Maharjan has been regularly writing on contemporary issues for this daily since 2000. uttam.maharjan1964@gmail.com)