We're in urgency for climate action: President Paudel

[President Ramchandra Paudel is currently in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, leading the Nepali delegation to participate in the 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 29). This exclusive interview of the President was published by Azerbaijani Trend News Agency on November 11. In the interview, the President shares the key expectations from the COP 29. Laman Zeynalova is the author of the interview.]   

 As part of COP29 in Baku, Trend News Agency proudly presents COP for Hope, a special project offering an unparalleled platform to hear from world leaders and trailblazers in politics, economics, science, and ecology, all united by a shared commitment to addressing today’s pressing climate challenges.

Today, we are honored to speak with the President of Nepal, Ramchandra Paudel. Nepal, celebrated for its rich natural resources and cultural heritage, is also grappling with significant climate change challenges. In this exclusive interview with Trend, President Paudel shares his insights on sustainable development, strategies for climate adaptation, and ways to foster global cooperation for a better future.

He pointed out that Nepal, as a party to the UNFCCC, gives utmost importance to the COP29.

“As the climate change is an escalating threat to human civilization, culture and also the mother earth; we are now at a crucial juncture of human history. The gravity of the situation is that the UN has recently warned all of us that, if we fail to take appropriate measures to address the subsisting climate crisis, the temperature could rise up to 3.10 C by the end of this century. The global body’s message is loud and clear that currently the world is in the midst of climate related predicaments and we all need to join hands to alleviate them. In this connection, it is contextual to mention here that Nepal has been committed to cooperate with the COP Troika Presidencies and their roadmap, which is in favor of “Solidarity for a Green World.” Nepal also extends its fullest support to make the Baku COP29 a great success,” he said.

Priorities of Nepal at COP29

Paudel said he recognizes that the COP29 is an opportunity also for Nepal to present its case.

“I will strongly put our case in the conference on the issues pertaining to the climate induced disasters and also shall seek the COP’s technological as well as adaptive solutions. We need to dwell on them because, as you perhaps know, that Nepal was recently hard hit by incessant and erratic rains and floods, which were responsible for the loss of more than 200 precious human lives and huge damage to critical infrastructures. The natural disaster has costed millions of dollars to a least developed and landlocked nation!” said Nepal’s president.

He went on to add that the global warming has caused the snow-capped mountains black.

“Glaciers have burstcausing massive destructions and posing serious threats to the people living down-streams. We must understand that crisis facing the mountains is a global issue, not just that of the mountainous countries. Actually, Nepal, which has been blessed with majestic Himalayas- the major source of fresh water in the region, deserves special attention from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in view of Nepal’s high degree of vulnerability to climate change. Nepal deserves particular attention also because of its painstaking endeavors, yet with a scant resource, in addressing the subsisting climate related challenges. The generosity, on the part of the GCF, is critical as Nepal has already embarked on to ambitious goals of climate action such as achieving of the carbon neutrality by 2045 and negative carbon emission by 2050,” said Paudel.

Besides, as the president said, Nepal is also committed to increase the forest cover to 45 percent by 2030, which is already achieved.

“Therefore, at the moment, Nepal is in dire need of a generous support from climate finance and also advance technological knowhow in order to enhance its capacities, which are imperative for Nepal’s transition to a climate-resilient future. Against this backdrop, our principal expectations from COP29 which is also widely dubbed also as a “Finance COP,” are that: the issue of mobilizing the adequate fund for the mitigation and adaptation actions against climate change, by dint of scaling up the pledge, is resolved. At the same time, we expect that the fund is allocated judiciously and in an unhindered way among needy nations,” he added.

Ensuring effective climate financing for small island countries at COP29

Paudel said he personally thinks that, the small and resource crunch nations, which are most vulnerable to climate change; deserve climate justice.

“The reason is that, while these nations are least responsible for carbon emissions, they suffer the most. For example, the irony, in the case of my country, is that despite Nepal’s insignificant contribution to the Green-House-Gas Emissions, it has been a major victim of climate change phenomenon! The Climate Risk has categorized Nepal as the 10th most affected country. The impacts of climate change are glaring in all aspects of national life as there are reductions in agricultural products, domestic migrations taking place, stressed fresh water resources, loss of biodiversity, damage of strategic infrastructure, soil deterioration in addition to loss of human lives each year,” said Nepal’s president.

In this context, Paudel believes that it is imperative for Nepal and other least developed and island nations to raise their concerns about the climate funding system.

“The fund flow mechanism must be easy, sensible and fast. We believe that fund should be in grants and allocated through recognized national budgetary system. We would also like to see an enhanced volume of Loss and Damage Fund so that victim developing nations would not have to suffer further.

Another aspect, on which we need to ponder over and also act, is about the tying up of mountain and marine ecosystems. In the light of their causal relationship, since the melting of glaciers on the mountains has linear and consequential impacts on the costal ecologies, it is important to link both LDCs and Small Island Developing States (SIDs) institutionally. As the COP29 presidency has announced funding for SIDs, it is high time to act on this issue and I will try to draw the attention of all concerned on this pertinent subject. I personally believe that by bringing the LDCs and SIDs together shall help strengthening the alliance against the climate change phenomenon,” said Nepal’s president.

Climate Finance Action Fund

Paudel noted that Nepal is very positive about the idea of creating Climate Finance Action Fund proposed by Azerbaijan.

“We believe the effective allocation of the funds are important for achieving our goals. I wish the fund mechanism will be simple, easy accessible in the priority and needs of the vulnerable countries,” he said.

Prospects for cooperation in renewable energy development 

Paudel said he sees a prospect for Nepal and Azerbaijan strengthening their bilateral cooperation.

“Both of them can exchange their experiences- specifically in the realms of renewable energy development and harnessing of natural resources. As Nepal has now been doing well in the area of clean energy generation and its deployment, it can share its experiences with Azerbaijan. Similarly, Azerbaijan is successful in reaping the natural resources such as limestone, copper ores, zinc, iron etc. Her experience on these areas could help Nepal a lot as the latter too has been blessed with these natural resources. Such bilateral engagements, coupled with the transfer of knowledge and technology between them, could bring them further closer on other areas of cooperation too,” Nepal’s president concluded.

(Follow the author on X: @Lyaman_Zeyn)