Effective policy in need to battle climate change: Dr Rana

Kathmandu, Oct 20: Dr Arju Rana Deuba, President of the Agriculture, Cooperatives and Natural Resources Committee under the House of Representatives, today said climate change would have a serious impact not only on the biological diversity of Nepal but also on its Gross Domestic Product.     

In her address to a ceremony organised here on the occasion of the 41st anniversary of the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC), Dr Rana said climate change has directly affected the nature and biodiversity of Nepal apart from affecting various areas of the country.     

Stating that the impacts of climate change on Nepal's forest, agriculture, nature and mountains would take its toll on the country's economy, she informed about the projection of the decrease of the country's GDP by 2.2 per cent according to a study carried out by the Asian Development Bank.     

Nepal ranks 27th in the globe and 10th in Asia in biodiversity. Currently, it has over 22,000 species of flora and fauna, which has taken a share of 1.3 per cent of the global biodiversity.     

"Nepal's diversity richness in flowering plant species is ranked 27th in the world and 10th in Asia. This makes all of us truly blessed and proud of our natural wealth," she said.     

Due to unmanaged construction planning, lax implementation of development projects and unsustainable human activities, Nepal is going through problems of global warming, and deforestation in the country is still affecting agriculture, she said, calling for priority on forest, land, water and air.     

"Nepal is facing loss and degradation of natural ecosystems such as pristine forests, grasslands, and wetlands due to the expansion of settlements, unplanned infrastructure development, illegal and unsustainable extraction of ecosystem goods and services; invasion by alien species; illegal and unsustainable fishing and pollution of water bodies," lawmaker Rana pointed out.     

The government launches an integrated, inclusive and coordinated programme in the fields of development and nature conservation, carries out a study on the impacts of climate change and adopts the necessary procedures to reduce its harms, she suggested.     

She reiterated that nature conservation and degraded ecosystem restoration is a major, cost-efficient ally in our fight against climate change. (RSS)