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Udita (name changed) had an important work presentation on the first day of the week. She was both nervous and anticipative about the meeting. She had 25 minutes to go before logging in to the video conferencing app when her mother showed up in her room and asked her to join for lunch. Udita told her mom that she would eat later as it was almost time for her remote meeting. Her mom got upset no sooner and told her, “It seems like all other people at my home have important work to do, only I am the free and useless one here.” Those words got to Udita's nerves, and she frowned, “Not again!” before turning to her presentation. Her mom stormed off.

In this kind of situation, it can be easy to slip into judgmental thoughts about oneself and others. This, in turn, fuels misunderstanding, miscommunication and conflict.

Udita had a few minutes to go before the presentation, but her mind was constantly flashing back to the interaction she had with her mom. She, in fact, quickly realized that she was having judgmental thoughts about her mom like ‘she never understands’, ‘what would she know about the pressure I’m under?’ She knew she couldn’t continue to do so if she wanted her presentation to go well and not worsen the relationship with her mother.

Practicing self-connection

Self-connection is about connecting with our own feelings and needs rather than getting stuck in a cycle of blaming and justifications. When we shift from judgments to self-connection, we create space to acknowledge what’s really going on for us.

We can ask the following questions to connect with ourselves:

- Khas ma k bhako ho? (What really happened?)

Udita separated her judgments from what happened in the situation. She recalled that her mom told her, "It seems like all other people at my home have important work to do, only I am the free and useless one here," to which she responded, “Not again!” This step is important because it helps us break our narrative and see things for what they really are. It is about ‘seeing with our eyes and ears’ rather than making assumptions and jumping into conclusions.

-How do I feel?

Once we identify the trigger, we can move towards how we interpret the event that transpired. Udita checked in with herself and realized she felt annoyed and discouraged upon hearing her mom's words.

-What do I need?

Without emotional literacy, it might have been easy for Udita to believe that her mother caused her feelings of annoyance and discouragement. The truth is, her mother’s words and actions only triggered those feelings in Udita. Her feelings emerged from her unmet needs for support and understanding, which she sought in the relationship with her mother.

-Do I have a specific request to myself or someone else?

Udita then realized she perhaps needed to focus on doing the presentation well for the time being. She decided to approach her mother and know what was going on for her after the presentation. Once we realize what we need, it is easier to then look for strategies to meet those needs.

Self-connection allowed Udita the space to tune in to her own feelings and needs instead of getting stuck in judgmental thoughts. Now she has a better chance at meeting her needs for support and understanding as opposed to when she was stuck in judgmental thoughts about her mother like ‘she never understands’, ‘what would she know about the pressure I’m under?’

When we can better connect with our own feelings and needs, we also improve the chances of understanding the feelings and needs of the other person. Empathizing with another person immediately after a triggering event can be difficult. It helps to first recognize our judgmental thoughts and to use those as cues to first connect with what’s really going on for us.

The author is Linchpin at My Emotions Matter, an education initiative that helps individuals and teams learn the mindset and skills of Emotional Intelligence. Learn more at myemotionsmatter.com.

COP26 in Glasgow 2021 concluded with heavy climate negotiations tabled between the high and low carbon emitters across the globe. As a member country, Nepal presented its second Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) initiating its strong move for climate action. While the country managed to come up with an enhanced NDC, a massive challenge still remains: turning promises into action. The road to implementing effective climate actions seems difficult with local elections around the corner. However, climate youth coalitions in the country believe they could have significant participation to bridge the divide in localizing climate policy targets in partnership with local representatives.

The newly elected 753 local representatives will work under a five-year term. By the end of their term in 2027, many of the policy targets of National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) and NDC should fall to places with an achievement goal of 2030. Henceforth, the election will lay a foundation for planning and implementing the climate policy targets.

“This moment serves a motive to imprint the importance of climate action for vulnerable countries like Nepal. But we need adequate economic and skilled human resources to achieve tangible outcomes," says Umesh Balal Magar, network coordinator at Nepalese Youth for Climate Action (NYCA).

Ever since the climate emergency was declared, young people’s rights and roles have been questioned and reassessed. Their participation in the Glasgow summit helped pave the way for inclusive policymaking and initiating immediate actions to tackle the crises, even though the youths left the summit disappointed. Their voices at the decision-making level are not heard and they are resorting to street demonstrations.

  "The government should provide spaces for youths in discussions, but our voices are unheard and we are forced to come out in the streets,” says Binod Deuba, co-founder of Harin Nepal and a member of Youth Congress Nepal.

To ensure youth participation in climate action, Deuba and his team are running Climate Literacy Campaign to raise awareness on the issue.The challenge faced by youth climate activists in Far-west Nepal is huge. Difficult geographical terrains with poor motorable road access make reaching the climate-vulnerable areas hard. “Even if we reach these communities, there is a language and awareness gap. They are unable to respond and adapt to climate change,” says Azeena Adhikari, an agriculture student and network coordinator of NYCA, Baitadi.

Nepal has committed to maintaining 45 percent forest cover by 2030 and pledged to go net-zero by 2045. However, there are stumbling blocks. Climate activist from Kanchanpur Sujit Ramesh believes these blocks could be minimized by half if concerned authorities strictly followed the law.

“Many projects in the Far-west are run without conducting EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment). The budgets allocated for adaptation and mitigation purposes either freeze or are used in other projects,” he says.

It is also high time that Nepal started addressing the glaring gaps in youth engagement in climate action.

Prakriti Koirala, a member at the Department of Forest and Environment of CPN (Maoist Center) witnessed this gap while at COP26 summit. She shared that her young contemporaries from other countries were on the frontlines of negotiation. “It is not only about youth’s representation or letting them speak their mind, but also about grooming them for the negotiation table. Making preparations only before COP summits will not suffice,” she says

Active youth participation and engagement is imperative for effective climate action. Promoting intersectionality is also important for generating diverse marginalized voices from remote, intersectional and indigenous communities.

Young people across the globe are calling out for climate action and Nepal is on the same page.  “The response from Nepali youths on bringing about policy reforms on climate issues are overwhelming. The next step is to capacitate them and develop their skills,” says Sushmita Mishra of Central and South Asia for Water and Climate Coalition.

By 2025, the government also aims to mobilize 2,000 climate change adaptation resource persons locally. Local Adaptation Plans for Action (LAPA), which is to be implemented by 2030, is considered a primary medium to connect to all the local units. This is where the role of young climate enthusiasts and youth coalitions comes into play. Youth representatives from all local levels could be mobilized as resource persons to encourage their participation while ensuring that their needs are addressed.

Radha Wagle, chief of the Climate Change Management Division at the Ministry of Forest and Environment, emphasizes youth’s role in effective planning and policy enforcement.

“This need has been further intensified by the upcoming election. We are seeking to engage youths as resource persons in a more strategic manner. The initial plan is to develop a youth engagement strategy coordinating with youth organizations and coalitions across the country,” she says.

The Himalayan region has witnessed a series of major disasters over the past decade: the 2013 Kedarnath floods, the 2014 and 2021 Nepal landslides, and the 2020 Eastern Himalayan and Uttarakhand floods. Although disasters are not new to South Asia in general and the Himalayas in particular, the frequency, severity, and loss of humans and public property have been phenomenally more than in previous decades. In this context, the IPCC’s sixth assessment report is an eye-opener. The average temperature of the Himalayas mountain range is expected to increase up to 2°C by 2050. This will increase disaster-frequency and imperil food and water security. Climate change impact on cryospheric water sources in the Himalayas will have consequences for the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra basins. Given the centrality of the Himalayas in the global weather system, its costs will be felt across the globe.    

The sixth IPCC assessment report on climate change (CC), published in February 2022, has urged immediate actions against rising global temperatures. While previous reports were mostly warnings to the global community to prevent CC impacts, this one emphasizes the urgency of actions to avoid catastrophic disasters. It also highlights the vulnerability of the poorest countries, islands, and mountainous regions. For the first time, the IPCC acknowledges climate change-induced migration, including in South Asia, with evidence. This 3,760-page report prepared using thousands of scientific reports and studies on climate change has analyzed impacts of climate change both regionally and on a thematic basis like snow-fed water, precipitation, migration, food, livelihood, etc.

South Asia

Like the previous reports, this report identifies South Asia as one of the vulnerable regions in the world given its topographical structure, population density, and poor socio-economic profile. Climate-induced hydrological changes are projected to spur migration. There is already evidence of increase in frequency, intensity, and severity of floods, cyclones, droughts, landslides, and heatwaves in the region, leading to climate-induced internal migration in Nepal, Bangladesh, and India. 

As the global temperature continues to increase, the region may witness increased risks to food security due to low levels of adaptation. Food security risks due to climate change will be more severe, leading to malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in South Asia. 

Moreover, an increase in the number of disasters is expected to push 122 million more people into extreme poverty by 2030. Around 330-396 million could be exposed to lower agricultural yields at warming beyond 1.5°C—and most of them will be in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.

The Himalayas

Apart from the coastal regions of India and Bangladesh, the Himalayas are identified as most sensitive to climate change in South Asia. The report refers to the entire Himalayas as the Hindukush Himalayas (HKH) region. The Himalayas are considered the third pole or the water tower of Asia due to their abundant freshwater sources. Referring to some studies on water availability in mainland South Asia, the report says decreasing precipitation have contributed to increasing incidents and severity of droughts. Water-stress is relatively higher in the western compared to the central and eastern region Himalayan regions.

There could be more flood events in the Ganges-Brahmaputra region. Floods and extreme events can change river channel systems and exacerbate transboundary conflicts. For instance, the floods on the Indus in July 2010 altered the river’s course in Pakistan, moving it closer to the Indian district of Kutch. The Koshi River has shifted more than 113 km to the west in the past two centuries.

Livestock could be affected by climate change-induced heat stress and reduced water availability through the degradation of rangelands, pastures and forests. The report says glacier retreat and increasing runoff variability could affect cultural beliefs and practices in high mountain areas. For example, the loss of glaciers threatens the ethnic identity of the Indigenous Manangi community of Nepal’s Annapurna Conservation Area.

Most importantly, the report points to rapid urbanization in the Himalayan region especially in Nepal due to internal migration from high altitudes to the mid-hills and Tarai. Quoting a study, the report says 39 percent rural communities have at least one migrant, of whom 80 percent are internal and 20 percent international. Around 10 percent migration is reported as environmental displacement. While earlier reports found women were worst affected by climate change, this one says most migrants are males. Growing urbanization in the Himalayas generates many challenges, especially in climate-change adaptation.

As reported in some Nepali media outlets, over the past decade, hundreds of people in Mustang, Manang, Bajhang, Sankhuwasabha, Sindhupalchowk and Dolakha districts have been relocated due to landslides, floods, drying up of streams, and decreased water-flow. An independent study found that close to 15 percent of the springs in Mustang and Manang have dried up, and water flow has declined by up to 70 percent in other places of Nepal. There are also reports of vector borne diseases (VBDs) in high latitude regions of Nepal like Kalikot, Mugu, Jajarkot, Humla, Jumla, and Salyan districts. Warmer temperatures will only exacerbate the VBDs.

Conclusion

Climate change risks are imminent in the Himalayan region. Both individual states and HKH member countries as a whole have failed to adapt. Except for China and India, other countries that share topography with the Himalayas, struggle to implement resilient and adaptation programs due to insufficient funds and technology. Developed countries responsible for the current crisis ignore the concerns of these countries. Moreover, the developed countries have also avoided their commitment (for instance, to mobilize $100 billion a year from 2020, as per the 2015 Paris Agreement) to mitigate climate change impacts in developing countries.

Protection and preservation of the Himalayan biodiversity and ecology is not just the responsibility of Nepal and Bhutan. These are global ecological heritage. Millions of people in Asia directly benefit from Himalayan resources; millions more do so indirectly. Therefore, instead of waiting for the developed countries’ support, it is the responsibility of the Asian countries to act to protect the Himalayas.

Already, back in October 2020, eight HKH countries declared an ‘Action to sustain mountain environments and improve livelihoods in the Hindu Kush Himalaya’. But there has been little progress perhaps due to Covid-19 and differences between member countries. Collective actions need to be expedited by keeping aside bilateral differences on the geopolitical front.

“Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.” – Gautam Buddha

My cell phone rang. A biker friend was calling to tell me they were staging a race, and he asked me to participate. When I learned it was an uphill climb, I gave it my thumbs down. Riding uphill is not my forte, let alone race. I did the last contest in Tansen five years ago—a cross-country race. I was 64 then.

The biker friend, Rakesh Manandhar, aka Mtb Rocky, would not take no for an answer. He said the race included a category that fit me like a glove—the ‘Senior’ (60-plus).

I knew Rakesh when I was a rookie, 13 years ago. Well, I could not turn a good friend down, could I? I fell for it and signed up against my better judgment. Maybe one last time, I reminded myself. Slated for 8 Jan 2022, the Tarebhir Trek Uphill Challenge was a 3.56 km brutal climb.

The big day arrived with the flag-off at Deuwa Chok, Budhanilkantha. By the time I arrived at the venue, four kilometers from my house, I was short of breath—and a nervous wreck when I gawked at Tarebhir towering above me. Raju, my cycling mate, only 34, on the other hand, was bursting with excitement: this was his first-ever race.

The turnout was unbelievable—the place crawled with riders dressed to the occasion in their snazzy helmets and colorful outfits. The lineup of mountain bikes was staggering, too—from entry-level to futuristic bikes.

I learned 130-plus racers were competing—mind-boggling! As I took stock of the milieu, my eyes fell on small kids who looked no older than eight—and vying, too. There were women, young and old alike. Surprise, surprise—a couple of them looked in their fifties.

Raju fell in the ‘Master’ category. The organizers had taken in multiple age groups, from juniors, elite, masters to grandmasters to seniors. The whistle sounded for the women’s lineup (six to eight racers at a time); I picked out Laxmi Magar, the seven-time national cross-country champion. We have known each other for 10 years now, following several races I did with her.

The race kicked off, with Prayash Tamang, CEO of Kathmandu Bike Station, logging every contestant’s time. And the first batch of the riders tore up the steep track amid boisterous cheering and clapping.

Then came my turn. Seven other riders flanked me, Raju included. I felt jumpy as the countdown began. I realized I was attempting to move a mountain—fat chance.

By the time I cleared the first 500m, I had done great, even rode past a few riders. Good job, I said to myself and patted myself on the back. The joy was short-lived, though, as the climb got steeper and every rider appeared to pull ahead of me.

The unrelenting climb appeared vertical. I dismounted several times, gasped for air, sipped from my bottle, and pushed my bike. No respite, though; every second counted. I was still unconvinced if I could make it to the finish line.

I ran into some riders who hurtled down the slope, after having completed the race. How far to the finish? I asked one of them as I fought for breath. Halfway came the reply; my heart sank. Did I imagine the incline got steeper as the dirt track wound uphill? It appeared so. Suddenly, a rider swished past me. Man-oh-man, he was just a kid!

As I pushed on, riding and walking, I almost felt I was in a stupor, my legs hurt, and I feared my knees might buckle. In all honesty, I was at the end of my rope. As more riders came shredding down, the thought I’d barely made it half the distance seemed to further fuel my misery. I saw some riders idling by the track; they had quit. I kept on stoically, though. I would complete the race if it were the last thing I would do, I muttered to myself.

And, before I knew it, after tackling a gnarly climb, I spotted a large crowd at the crest. The Finish Line at long last! I’d made it. Unawares, I had an epiphany—I’d rediscovered myself—my strength, grit, confidence, and self-esteem.