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Madhukar Upadhya is a watershed expert and the author of the book, ‘Ponds and Landslides: Water culture, food systems and the political economy of soil conservation in mid-hill Nepal’. He contributes opinion pieces to leading national newspapers in Nepal, focusing on the rising tensions between a flourishing society and sustaining natural resources, including the emerging challenges of managing the climate crisis.  

With global temperature rising by 1.2°Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, we’re witnessing severe climate impacts from snow melt, loss of biodiversity, dwindling water resources, drying up of springs and small rivers, to increased frequency of floods and landslides, extended droughts, and deadly forest fires. Damage to settlements and infrastructure are increasing with every major event and such impacts are likely to be amplified with the relentless greenhouse gas emissions. For the first time in three decades, the COP28 climate summit helped center the issue of fossil fuels and the need to transition away from them in global climate negotiations; however, the jubilant initial response has now given way to skepticism and doubt. Against the backdrop of these catastrophic climate-induced events, which have never been as rampant, how far will transition away from fossil fuels help cut emissions? Estimates say we need to do so by 45 percent by 2030 to avoid the ongoing race towards a global catastrophe. And if not, how will low-income vulnerable countries, like Nepal, safeguard their interests against climate impacts? Under these circumstances, more than ever before, we need to be vigilant and work diligently to explore ways to protect ourselves from these growing threats.  Here are some of my takes.

The Government of Nepal, through concerted efforts, has formulated policies, strategies, and frameworks and laid out plans to cut emissions and adapt to the impacts. But we know that their implementation struggles to be as effective because addressing climate change is plagued by the same problems that have hindered our development efforts for decades. Unless they are legally binding, policies and strategies hardly get reflected adequately, and with the required urgency, in the planning and budgeting processes, nor are they discussed in Parliament or the Provincial Assemblies while approving annual plans. So much so, that even the plans of local governments hardly reflect them. These are preconditions for an effective implementation of climate responses.

Legal platform

First of all, we need to understand that unlike environmental problems, where cause and effect are often clear because they are usually confined to a local area, the complexities of climate change, with its global jurisdiction and wide array of teleconnections, make it too abstract for many to comprehend. Additionally, the climate discussion generally revolves around the saying that climate change is a global problem and requires global solutions. That is particularly true for mitigation since cutting emissions requires collective actions on a global scale, even though the efforts to limit warming to 1.5°Celsius is failing across the board. Small emitters such as Nepal can commit to be carbon neutral all we want but we know it won’t even have a nominal effect on mitigation unless global net human-caused emissions are cut by about 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030, which seems unlikely. 

Adaptation, on the other hand, is equally if not more crucial for us and it’s a local issue. Moreover, this is where local leaders, communities and planners should be taking the lead. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case because the climate crisis remains absent from our political conversations.

Meetings SDGs

Consequently, we fail to recognize that we have to meet multiple international commitments such as the SDGs, NDCs, and other key national goals with limited funds available. Such obligations should put pressure on our planners to be prudent in planning and budgeting but that isn’t happening because these commitments aren’t legally binding. So, first and foremost, we need climate laws that obliges the planners to identify and prioritize our needs accordingly. 

International experiences

There are examples we can earn from. Countries such as Fiji and the Philippines have climate laws that obligate their governments to take concrete measures to mainstream climate change into their legal, policy and strategic frameworks. In Fiji, the government is required to introduce carbon budgets, adopt a climate budget tracking system, and provide information on the economic implications of climate change in a supplement to the national budget. In this way, climate laws provide a strong legal platform to articulate the broad contours for mainstreaming climate change including gender and social inclusion issues associated with it into national systems.

Mainstreaming 

The sooner we realize that climate change can't be tackled through projects because they are time-bound with limited scope and jurisdiction, the better it will be. Addressing climate change requires mainstreaming it with regular planning and budgeting processes. Furthermore, we know that climate change is a cross-cutting issue, yet we seldom pay attention to how this nature affects our decision-making while formulating sectoral plans. Each sector, from water, forest, agriculture to power and infrastructure follow traditional methods of formulating plans. A failure to align development interventions with the changing climate will leave us with a limited understanding of what needs to be done to avert the worst of climate consequences on sectoral goals and, by extension, national goals. 

Therefore, mainstreaming climate change should be prioritized in local government’s plans in particular because that’s where they can be most effective and, constitutionally, local governments are responsible for implementing all local-level development programs. Unfortunately, there is a huge gap between what is expected of local governments and their existing capacity and capability to mainstream climate change.

Gender and social inclusion

The intersectional concerns of gender and social inclusion present an even more serious issue within the context of climate change because of specific vulnerabilities of women, children, and marginalized sections of society. It’s always these groups that are affected disproportionately in any disaster. Of the 34 odd earthquake victims who died of cold in Jajarkot included a significant number of women, followed by elderly, Dalits and children. Despite abundant policies and action plans to center gender and social inclusion, they leave a lot to be desired in terms of implementation and efficacy. For climate investments to have a positive impact on gender equality and social inclusion, it’s crucial to recognize the differentiated needs and interests of these groups, otherwise, climate actions will remain half-baked and any implementation ineffective.

The entry point

Climate-related events have continued to hit our primary economic sector—agriculture. The economic losses in paddy from 2001 to 2010 due to drought alone amounted to about Rs 10bn per year. Both severity and frequency of drought is increasing over the period. On the other extreme, for the first time in recorded history, the whole of Tarai was flooded on the same day, damaging crops and infrastructure equaling Rs 61bn in 2017. In 2021 alone, we lost ready-to-harvest paddy worth over Rs 11bn to post-monsoon floods. These examples of just one crop highlight how vulnerable our agriculture is to the changing climate. Moreover, what is often ignored while assessing flood damage is the loss of crop-land. 

Between 1971 and 2006, Nepal lost roughly 5,900 hectares of land to floods and landslides per year. If the average family owns roughly half a hectare, then at least 10,000 families lose their livelihoods every year. There is no data about the extent of land damage after 2006. Reclaiming land has traditionally been a way of adapting to land damage. Unfortunately, none of our national or local policies have recognized this inherent problem of our landscape and, therefore, there is no policy of land reclamation, which should be a major component of our climate intervention plans. Focusing on agriculture will help enhance communities’ resilience. 

Bolstering communal knowledge 

Another area of concern is the loss of local knowledge and skills required for enhancing communities’ resilience. The knowledge and skills gained through years of collective citizen-learning in managing local problems have been lost due to the decades of political instability which discouraged a generation of citizen-researchers who dedicated themselves to understand local problems and find innovative solutions to address them. Land and water management, bioengineering, building green roads, micro-hydro projects, and dousing forest fires are some key areas which have produced local experts to take the lead and develop the communal knowledge-base required for climate resilience. Unfortunately, we’ve lost most of them. Sustaining agriculture to enable communities to fight climate change in the warmer climate requires reviving such communal knowledge in a country with a climate and landscape as diverse as ours with 118 types of ecosystems.

Institutional lead 

In 2016, the Environment Protection Committee of the erstwhile legislative Parliament, after observing the increasing cases of floods and landslides and the extent of damage to settlements, infrastructures and farm land, directed the Government of Nepal to immediately establish a high-level climate change institution with a strict mandate to coordinate the planning and execution of climate actions. It was a clear political signal emphasizing the need for a strong institution to coordinate cross-sectoral climate planning across the country. However, the government hasn’t established any such institution in the last seven years. Paradoxically, the Federal Parliament no longer has an Environment Protection or a Climate Change Committee. This structural mismatch is hurting scrutiny and consolidation of cross-sectoral efforts to mainstream climate change.

Accountability 

Two formal agencies namely: the Parliament and the Auditor General’s office have the mandate to make the Executive accountable for every rupee it spends. Unfortunately, investment in climate change hasn’t been a part of their mandate yet except when it is dealt with as part of other programmes. Climate impacts are the reality of every constituency represented in the Parliament. Parliamentary hearings on how climate actions are helping communities to adapt and analyze the effectiveness of the budget invested on climate programs would help make the Executive more accountable. Likewise, Civil Society Organizations are other actors who can help ensure accountability. Their role in connecting communities and the government in formulating doable plans would help ensure that scarce resources reach the neediest to reduce their vulnerabilities.

Mountain specificities 

Nepal has spearheaded discussion on the mountain agenda and its issues at COP28 in Dubai. Though it’s a thing to celebrate, we should be wary of it being dominated by talks of snow-melt as has been the case when discussing climate change in the past.  Our mountains have three other specificities that require equal attention: diverse culture and livelihood impacted severely by climate impacts; dying indigenous practices of land and water management; and depleting groundwater that feed all the tributaries of Himalayan rivers and mountain springs. Future climate actions should consider these specificities as priorities instead. 

In addition, reviving the abandoned mountain-friendly technologies such as ropeways, introduced a century ago, followed by locally-led initiatives to restore dying water resources that have proven effective in addressing water-induced disasters and declining productivity would probably be areas worth investing in to promote mountain issues.   

Last but not the least, climate change is an opportunity to start afresh; a new dawn of development by taking an approach that will change the way we’ve been addressing our core problems of poverty, resource degradation, disaster-risk reduction, and economic slowdown.

When envisioning pollution, the stark image of towering cylindrical structures belching dark, noxious smoke into the sky often comes to mind—a reality frequently seen in Nepal’s urban landscapes. This portrayal isn't far from the truth, especially with the prevalence of brick kilns, primarily concentrated in the Tarai region and urban centers like the Kathmandu Valley.

Bricks are an indispensable element in construction and various infrastructure projects. The brick industry is burgeoning due to escalating demand from the expanding urban populace and the reconstruction efforts following earthquakes. As per reports by World bank in 2020, Nepal has approximately 1,600 brick kilns that churn out a staggering 5bn bricks annually. Unfortunately, these kilns also pose a severe environmental threat, contributing substantially to pollution. They release about 1.80m tons of carbon dioxide, 302,200 tons of carbon monoxide, 23,300 tons of particulate matter, 15,500 tons of sulfur dioxide, and 6,000 tons of black carbon into the atmosphere.

The impact, however, extends beyond air pollution, sparking concerns about its impact on soil quality and the crops cultivated therein. The fly ash, a byproduct of brick kilns, disperses as an ash slurry onto nearby lands, water bodies, and vegetation, inevitably diminishing soil fertility and reducing crop productivity. 

Moreover, the geographic positioning of brick kilns poses an additional problem. They’re often situated in the midst of highly productive agricultural lands due to their necessity for quality clayey, silty, and loamy soil, resulting in the extraction of fertile topsoil for brick production, rendering the land even less productive.

The loss of soil fertility presents a significant threat to sustainable agriculture. The soil’s pH plays a crucial role in nutrient availability for crops, ideally ranging between 6.5 and 7.5. However, the proximity of brick kilns causes soil acidification due to coal burning and the release of substantial amounts of sulfur dioxide gas, which, upon combining with water, creates sulfuric acid, lowering the pH. Furthermore, the soil's capacity to retain water diminishes, degrading its quality, while organic carbon, pivotal for soil structure, aeration, water retention, and nutrient supply to plants, also declines in the land near the brick kiln than at the far distance from the various research study conducted in South Asia. The bedrock of crop development hinges on the presence of essential nutrients, notably Nitrogen. However, the emissions discharged from brick kilns disrupt the nitrogen cycle, fluctuating the soil nitrification process. This disruption results in a drastic decline in soil fertility and nutrient levels.

Concurrently, a major concern emerges from the toxicity stemming from heavy metal contamination, particularly arsenic, mercury, chromium, and iron. These metals degrade soil quality, significantly diminishing microbial diversity, and ultimately undermining the overall soil health.

The repercussions extend beyond soil degradation, exerting a direct impact on crops. Depositions such as fly ash, sulfur dioxide, and nitrous oxide settle on leaves, reducing the interception of incident light and causing the clogging of stomata. In addition, heavy metal deposition—cadmium, mercury, and lead—has been detected in crops in close proximity to brick kilns, rendering them hazardous for human consumption.

Advocating for the mitigation of brick kiln emissions and their impact on agricultural lands, especially during the peak brick production period from November to May, is imperative due to the heightened intensity of emissions during this time. This period witnessed a surge in brick production to meet the escalating demand for construction materials, exacerbating the environmental and agricultural implications. It is crucial to address this issue now to safeguard Nepal's agricultural landscape and ensure the well-being of its farming communities amidst this crucial production phase. In the context of Nepal, scant research has delved into the impact of brick kiln emissions on agricultural soil quality, and none have scrutinized the impact on crops. Most studies have concentrated solely on the environmental impact of brick kiln emissions, primarily within the Kathmandu Valley, thereby leaving a conspicuous void. Assessing the current hazardous levels in soil quality and heavy metal concentrations in surface soil, assessing their deleterious impacts on crops, and formulating a comprehensive mitigation strategy are areas to dwell upon in future. Acknowledging the far-reaching impact of brick kiln emissions, strict regulation, meticulous monitoring, and further research are imperative to quantify their impact on agricultural crops and soils. Policymakers must act decisively to regulate the establishment of brick kiln industries for conservation of agricultural lands. The need for policy-level development cannot be overstated in ensuring the protection and sustenance of Nepal’s agricultural landscape.

Zero tolerance for corruption and good governance have been the buzzwords in public administration in Nepal in recent years. However, the reality paints a different picture as corruption continues to proliferate at an alarming rate.

Although Nepal’s standing has marginally improved in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, reaching a score of 35 this year, corruption remains a significant challenge for the country. Since Transparency International identifies a score below 50 as indicative of a high risk of corruption, there is a pressing need for Nepal to redouble its efforts in combating corruption and promoting good governance.

Prem Kumar Rai, the Chief Commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), said that the desired success in controlling corruption cannot be achieved unless politicians, employees, and citizens across all three tiers of government, exhibit a sense of responsibility towards good governance.

According to the CIAA’s annual report, different forms of corruption are rampant in Nepal. Here are some of them:

Infrastructure development

Following the adoption of federalism, corruption has thrived in development and construction projects implemented by all levels of government. Instances of misusing state resources during budget allocation, grants distribution, and service delivery have surged. The CIAA has received a significant number of complaints over the past five years related to bribery, illicit gains, and acquisition of illegal assets.

Procurement

The trend of making unnecessary purchases by public offices is on the rise. Construction companies are colluding with government officials to stifle competition in public procurement and construction projects. Direct procurement without competitive bidding has become increasingly common, Such cases are particularly evident during times of disasters. Allocation of budgets without proper justification and planning, as well as procurement without adherence to standards, are growing challenges in combating corruption.

Intermediaries

Middlemen have infiltrated public offices and are obstructing service delivery of these offices. As a result, the general public is forced to pay a fee for services they are supposed to get free of cost.

Appointments

Corruption is rampant in employee appointments. Some public institutions have become like recruitment centers for cadres of ruling parties. Staffers are being promoted without considering merit and criteria. Such activities have also led to misuse of government resources such as vehicles and fuel.

Land

Land-related irregularities are widespread across the country. Government land and forest land being leased for commercial purposes at minimal rates to serve the interests of certain individuals and groups. Encroachment on public, Guthi, and forest lands are going unabated. Recent land scams related to Lalita Niwas, Bansbari Leather factory and Nepal Trust shows this has become a chronic issue.

Political appointments

The practice of appointing offenders to various positions in public offices perpetuates corruption. Instances of appointees with foreign residency permits and those listed as absconding criminals shows the government is taking good governance very lightly. Political affiliations often outweigh qualifications and experience in appointments in all three tiers of governments. 

Revenue leakage

Incidents of revenue leakage are on the rise. As many as 49 such cases were reported to the CIAA in 2022/23 alone. Unjustified exemptions in customs duty and taxes as well as activities such as revenue evasion through under-invoicing, are on the rise. Authorities responsible for curbing such activities have failed in their duties, according to CIAA.

Policy corruption

Policy corruption has emerged as a significant issue in recent years. Decisions that fall under the purview of ministries and departments are being routed through the cabinet to evade scrutiny by anti-corruption agencies. The CIAA has long been calling for all three tiers of government to maintain transparency in their decision making process.

The CIAA is formulating an institutional strategic plan to address the challenges identified during its fourth strategic plan review. It has provided 22 recommendations to public offices to enhance transparency, competition, and quality in public procurement, among others.

I’m a 47-year-old woman and a mother of two children. I’ve raised my children alone for the past two decades since my husband and I separated. His recent passing hasn’t drastically changed our lives, but societal expectations weigh heavily on me. People don’t understand what I have been through. While I find accepting things easier now than when he left, I’m grappling with the pressure to conform to societal norms. I’ve agreed to participate in rituals for him but I question their necessity. I’ve become more conscious of how I should present my emotions as I fear judgment. How do I navigate these complex feelings?

Answered by Kapil Sharma, counseling psychologist, Nepal Institute of Mental Health

Your journey as a single mother over the past two decades reflects your remarkable strength and unwavering acceptance. However, navigating the passing of an estranged spouse while also balancing societal expectations can be disheartening.

First and foremost, it’s imperative to recognize and honor your feelings, irrespective of any external pressures or societal norms. Your emotional well-being must be the main priority, and it’s crucial to validate your experience fully. Remember, every emotion you’re experiencing is valid, and you possess the resilience and inner strength necessary to navigate this challenging journey while staying true to yourself.

Grieving is a deeply personal process, and you have every right to mourn in your unique way, free from the constraints of societal expectations. Your journey as a single mother, marked by resilience and fortitude, speaks volumes about your ability to overcome adversity. It’s entirely natural to feel a myriad of emotions, ranging from relief to sadness and even a sense of closure, following the passing of your estranged spouse.

You owe no one an explanation for your emotions or how you choose to process them. It’s crucial to prioritize your emotional well-being and permit yourself to grieve at your own pace and manner. While participating in rituals or ceremonies may offer solace and closure to some, remember that it’s entirely your choice whether to partake in them. Trust your instincts and honor what feels right for you. Surround yourself with supportive individuals who genuinely understand and respect the complexities of your journey.

Self-compassion is paramount during this challenging time. Be gentle with yourself and practice self-compassion regularly. Remind yourself that it’s perfectly acceptable to prioritize your own well-being and emotional needs. Grant yourself the grace to feel whatever emotions arise, without judgment or self-criticism.

Should you find yourself facing judgment or criticism from others, consider seeking solace in the company of a trusted friend, family member, or mental health professional. These people can offer you a safe and non-judgmental space to process your emotions and find comfort amidst the storm.