Nepal to raise mountain-related issues in COP27 in Egypt

KATHMANDU, Nov 6 : The 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is taking place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from Sunday.

The conference will start on November 6 and will last until November 18. Country heads, world leaders, climate change activists, and working groups from around the world are meeting in Egypt to discuss the issues of climate change, adaptation, mitigation, finance, threats of rising temperature and greenhouse gases (GHG) and many other issues that the world is suffering from since the last few decades.

The conference is expected to give inclusive and ambitious results acting on agreements, decisions and commitments reached in the past, including the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and commitments of COP26 in Glasgow to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 by 137 countries.

Nepal is going to present mountain-related issues as its main agenda at the conference. Nepal is prepared to raise mainly eight thematic issues including climate change adaptation, losses and damage, climate finance, food security, indigenous people and agriculture.

According to Buddhi Sagar Poudel, Joint Secretary and Chief at the Climate Change Management Division under the MoFE, the country will raise the issue of providing US$ 100 billion every year from 2020 to 2025 as a goal of long-term climate finance by the developed countries.

The world's developed countries have collectively pledged $100 billion each year from 2020 to 2025 under long-term climate finance to developing countries but the latter have been unable to receive the committed amount.

Nepal has prepared and presented its ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in COP 26 and the ministry will lobby to bring support to implement NDC, he informed. So far, 23 countries have submitted their NDCs.

As per the NDC, the country has committed to maintaining 45 per cent of the total area of the country under forest cover (including other wooded land limited to less than 4 per cent) by 2030 and the forest cover has already reached 45.31 per cent, including 3.62 per cent other wooded lands (OWL). The country has also committed to going to Net Zero by 2045.

So, the government will also advocate for creating an easy environment to bring climate finance and they should come in the form of financial grants to promote the concepts of adaptation, resilience and green development in Nepal, Poudel informed. Similarly, the issues of bringing together the countries to maintain the earth's 

temperature increment at 1.5 degree Celsius, the preparations of an action plan to implement the Glasgow Climate Pact and the agreement on the global goals on climate adaptation will be discussed.

According to Poudel, Nepal will take leadership in raising issues related to mountains. 

For this, Nepal organized the Mustang Summit in September this year to cooperate with other counties facing common problems.

The Nepali team of delegates led by Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizen Uma Regmi participating in COP 27 includes the Forest Secretary, Joint Secretary, and representatives from different government and non-government organisations and International Non-government Organisations. The formal opening will be on November 7.