Nepal voices urgency of loss and damage fund at COP27

BY A STAFF REPORTER, Kathmandu, Nov. 16: The 27th Conference of Parties to Climate Change (COP27) has completed its first week in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. The second week is seen as crucial for important decisions on adaptation, climate finance, and loss and damage issues. The climate change conference appears unlikely to make the necessary decisions to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

During the time, several items on climate finance were discussed in informal sessions. These included financial arrangements for loss and damage, New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), a standing finance committee, guidance to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and Long-Term Finance. These agenda items are still under technical discussion and will continue deliberation next week, said Dr. Bimal Regmi, a climate change expert, who is attending COP27.

Funding adaptations related to National Adaptation Plans remain unresolved, including the operationalisation of global goals on adaptation, said an update provided by Dr Regmi from Egypt. Santiago Network agenda was discussed at the conference and negotiation was slow with lots of bracketed texts. The agenda on sustainable and predictable funding was not concluded this week and is forwarded for the next week, Dr Regmi said.

He said the mitigation work programme also remains unresolved, with a wide range of views between major developing countries and others.

Dr. Buddi Sagar Poudel, chief of the Climate Change Division under the Ministry of Forest and Environment, said that the government of Nepal is committed to transforming the sectors to demonstrate how innovations in major carbon-intensive sectors can curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while harnessing opportunities for mitigation and adaptation co-benefits. The support of the International Community to achieve this Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action for Nepal, which is in line with our enhanced NDC and long-term strategy, is necessary and would make a concrete contribution to our efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, he said.

Dr Anil Pokharel, Chief Executive of the National Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Authority (NDRRMA), shared that climate-induced loss and damage are real in Nepal and they are multiplying.

He shared that the loss and damage gaps highlighted by the research shared in the event apply to Nepal as well. Nepal strongly pushed for the urgency of the financial facility for the loss and damage and strengthening the governance mechanism.

The Government delegate attended the panel discussion on Tree-based system transformation for Improving Lives and Environment organised by India Pavilion deliberating on the transformations brought through tree-based food systems- agroforestry and trees outside the forests to improve the livelihoods and the environment.

Devesh Mani Tripathi, the Director General of the Department of Forest and Soil Conservation, raised an issue of how developing countries like Nepal will benefit from the market mechanism in terms of achieving global carbon neutrality. He further said Nepal has raised climate ambitions to achieve net zero neutrality by 2045 and prepared a national climate action plan through its revised NDCs and NAP - many of which are aligned with SDGs and national development goals priorities. 

Sabnam Shiwakoti from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development and Binod Heyojoo from the Institute of Forestry represented the session on Climate Change Impact on Mountains sharing Nepal's case on how the melting cryosphere affects local communities and ecosystems. 

They discussed making adaptation and mitigation practices effective by detecting subtle environmental changes and impacts on water resources by using High Technology Instrumentation (Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensor).