Minister Mahato calls for collective effort for climate action

Kathmandu, Dec 27: Minister for Forests and Environment Dr Birendra Mahato spoke of the need for the government and non-government sector to coordinate efforts in the agenda of climate action.     

In a thematic seminar organized by the News Agency Nepal here today on the theme 'Achievements and Future Course of Actions of the World Climate Conference', Minister Mahato said the agendas presented by Nepal in the recently held COP28 had drawn attention of the world.     

According to him, Nepal had strongly presented its case in the COP28 organized in Dubai of UAE from November 30 to December 12.     

Stating that the climate change was going to be the biggest challenge for the world in coming days, the Minister pressed for a special action plan to address the issue.     

He opined that we should not only reply on the foreign countries for climate actions. According to him, in absence of action-plan, the fund provided for climate action was facing problems in spending in proper purpose.     

Similarly, Dr Ganga Lal Tuladhar, Advisor to National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, shared that disaster management is envisioned the three schedules of the current constitution.     

He viewed that attempts were made to do away with the Authority by bringing it under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs. He suggested to consider changing the name of the Authority and making it high-powered and keeping it under Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.     

Likewise, Dr Rojnath Pandey, Secretary of the Federal Parliament Secretariat, echoed that Nepal eloquently raised its agendas in the COP28. According to him, without inter-ministerial and inner-agency coordination, climate action would not be undertaken and cannot achieve a success.     

Kriti Shrestha, an expert on climate change, argued that the local government should be more aware about climate change and climate actions. "The issue of climate change is not related to one ministry only. Therefore, all ministries should coordinate effort to address the issue."     

Dr Dharmaraj Uprety, another expert of climate change, observed that that COP28 aiming to put an end to use of coal, gas and petroleum products was a huge achievement.     

Nepal, being highly vulnerable to climate change, had effectively and strongly raised the issues of climate change in the global climate conference.     

The participants in the seminar agreed that the fund (USD 792 million) pledged for Nepal during the COP28 was not sufficient for climate action.     

According to Dr Uprety, Nepal had suffered losses worth Rs 20 billion in the last 10 years due to climate change.     

News Agency Nepal's executive chief Krishna Poudel said that her agency had been raising issues of climate change with high priority for a decade.(RSS)