What will a jumbo COP29 team to Baku achieve?

The Ministry of Forest and Environment is in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, as the constitutional anti-graft body has questioned it for sending a large delegation to COP29, which kicked off in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday.

The Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) wrote a letter to the ministry on Monday, questioning the rationale behind sending a large delegation to Baku when only three representatives would have been sufficient.

President Ramchandra Paudel is leading the Nepali delegation to the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference or the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as the COP29. He is scheduled to address the conference on Tuesday.

The ministry has sent a 31-member team to Baku. The delegation includes Minister Ain Bahadur Shahi, Secretary Deepak Kumar Kharal, Administration Division Chief and Joint-secretary Bhupal Baral, and Administration Division Under-secretary Shobhakar Regmi.

It has been learned that several non-government organizations funded the delegation's expenses from their regular program and activity budgets in Nepal.

Ministry sources say the CIAA has asked the ministry to explain the responsibilities of all team members in Baku.

A source at the ministry says a reply will be sent to the CIAA after Administration Division Chief Baral returns to Kathmandu. While Baral is expected to return on Nov 16, Minister Shahi is scheduled to return on Nov 19. Minister of State for Forest and Environment Rupa BK is scheduled to fly to Baku on Nov 14. However, a member of her secretariat said she is reluctant to travel, given the negative media coverage the Nepali delegation has received.