Submit your Article

Throughout this year, we have encountered numerous reports about the prevailing drought resulting from El Nino. The climate phenomenon causing abnormal warming of surface waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean has caused a noticeable reduction in rainfall even during monsoon. The rainfall anticipated in Nepal has shifted to Uttarakhand, India.

Addressing this issue with afforestation may not suffice, as even forested areas have seen a decline in rainfall. Finding a quick fix to this problem occurring because of a series of events spanning decades is indeed challenging.

Historically, we focused on treating drinking water and meeting irrigation needs without paying much attention to conserving water resources. Instead of investigating the reasons behind the depletion of our resources, we started searching for alternatives to address water shortages. Fundamentally a local problem, the water crisis should have been addressed locally. But it has been turned into a political matter, complicating its resolution.

The author is an environmentalist 

The economic crisis resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have left many sectors in trouble, including the cooperatives. With the debtors defaulting on payment, the cooperatives that had invested on land and other assets before the crisis couldn’t sell the properties amid soaring inflation. With investments frozen, the cooperatives are finding it hard to repay the depositors. It will take the cooperatives a little more time to address this problem. What they should do first is push the government to implement the Cooperatives Act, 2017. 

Unlike banks, we can’t rely on the debtors’ collateral, so we keep waiting for repayment. The government needs to help us out. It has formed a 11-member taskforce, and we are looking forward to their steps. Secondly, we are planning to disburse loans to cooperatives through the National Cooperative Bank Limited so as to facilitate early repayment to depositors in dire need.

The author is the Senior Vice-Chairperson at National Cooperative Federation of Nepal

The Ministry of Forest and Environment (MoFE) has started the preparations for the 28th UNFCCC Conference of Parties (COP 28), being held from Nov 30 to Dec 12 in Dubai. 

We have ample time to prepare our national agendas for the summit. We are yet to discuss our issues with the COP 28 Presidency and UNFCCC secretariat and as of now, we have not set our priorities and agendas. But we will consult with various national and international stakeholders working on climate issues to set our priorities for the climate conference.

Every year, we plan to review and update previous years’ agendas and align them with the current circumstances. Our focus will encompass climate finance, mitigation, adaptation, and loss and damage (L&D). One notable addition this time will be the Global Stocktake, designed to evaluate collective progress toward achieving the purpose of the Paris Agreement and its long-term objectives.

The author is chief of Climate Change Management Division at Ministry of Forest and Environment  

The justice delivery system has not been able to deliver justice to the victims of organized crime because of the state’s failure to ensure protection of the victims as well as the witnesses.  

The Constitution of Nepal 2015 has provisions for the protection of the victims as well as the witnesses, but the inability to ensure their protection means the latter contradicting their own statements given while moving the court of law. This makes it harder for us to deliver justice.

The witnesses may have been turning hostile and the victims contradicting their own statements because they are economically, socially and educationally disadvantaged.

The right to justice is enshrined in the Constitution. It also entails the protection of the victims as well as witnesses. We have also introduced laws related to protection.

But have we been able to ensure their protection in a meaningful way?

This is a serious question. 

The author is Chief Justice