Nepal’s roadmap to net-zero

Nepal’s second enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution (e-NDC) communicates the country’s vision of achieving socio-economic prosperity by building a climate-resilient society. Nepal has committed to net-zero GHG emission by 2045. It has also agreed to the 2030 target of zero deforestation and 30 percent methane reduction. To reach zero emission by 2045, Nepal has to reduce 25 percent emissions from high emitting sectors such as energy; industrial processes and product use (IPPU); agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU); and solid waste. Among these four, the most challenging is AFOLU, given its critical role in meeting food, nutrition and livelihood security challenges of the majority of Nepali people.

There is a high trade-off between agriculture and land use productivity and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. In order to achieve the high mitigation goals, there needs to be a balance between agriculture and natural resources management and climate mitigation/adaptation. This is vital both for sustained economic development and stable climate change impacts. Ensuring food and livelihood security of Nepali people especially the most vulnerable is crucial while progressing to net-zero. This will require managing development and climate change in a holistic, complementary and synergistic manner. This article presents some strategies and practical approaches Nepal’s development and climate change policy makers and managers can adopt to fulfill both domestic and international commitments.

Based on Nepal’s commitments made both at and after COP26, it is clear that managing climate change impact in Nepal is of strategic importance and has to be guided by sound federal policies and legal framework. The goal is to ensure development activities are managed in a complimentary, synergistic, and harmonized manner.

Nepal’s plans, policies and programs implemented by different ministries and agencies need to be cohesive if we are to achieve the twin goals of development and environment conservation. The universally accepted principles and practices of integrated environment and development management should guide all three levels of government. This can be done by mainstreaming climate change and nature conservation in all our development endeavors. A change of course has been necessitated to recover from the devastating impact of the pandemic.

Nepal’s ambitious climate, biodiversity and development goals can be achieved by promoting Green Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID), which is a sustainable natural resources based and socially inclusive green economic development approach. It aims to reduce poverty, contribute to prosperity and help achieve UN sustainable development goals. According to a recent World Bank publication the GRID approach “promotes economic growth that goes hand in hand with environmental goals and inclusion”. It aims to achieve multiple goals of poverty eradication, environmental sustainability and prosperity based on the framework of sustainable development. The GRID approach can address the vulnerability and risk Nepali population, biodiversity and national and local economies face in an integrated manner.

Nepal is in a good position to embark on the path of green economy, as it is rich in natural resources especially water, energy, biodiversity and human resources. Under a well-planned and designed GRID plan, economic growth can be maintained at optimal level besides making growth less carbon and methane intensive and more social and gender inclusive. The Ministry of Finance and several development partners led by the World Bank jointly launched the GRID approach in September 2021. This was done through the endorsement of the landmark ‘Kathmandu Declaration’ to develop a strategic GRID action plan.

This plan for the first time aims to “put climate and disaster resilience at the center of development processes”. This is critical to tackle the devastating impact of climate change we witnessed in Melamchi and other parts of the country last year due to unexpected extreme weather events. The development partners have agreed to invest in GRID implementation in Nepal. The green and inclusive climate management and development approach has the potential to decarbonize Nepal and make its development sector climate resilient while also putting the country on the trajectory of net-zero.

The author is Distinguished Fellow, CGED-Nepal, and Vice-Chair, IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management