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President Ram Chandra Paudel returned home this morning from Baku, Azerbaijan by attending the 29th edition of the Conference of Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, Speaker of House of Representatives (HoR) Devraj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairman Narayan Prasad Dahal, and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak welcomed the President at the VVIP Lounge of Tribhuvan International Airport.

A contingent of the Nepali Army accorded a guard of honor to the President on the occasion.

Ministers, lawmakers, high-level government officials and the chiefs of security bodies had also reached the airport to welcome the President.

President Paudel had left for Baku on November 10 to attend the COP29 at the invitation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Along with the President, First Lady Sabita Paudel, President Paudel's Water and Environment Expert Parameshwor Pokharel, Secretary at the Office of the President Narayan Prasad Sharma, Secretary at the Office of the Prime Minister Krishna Hari Pushkar, President's Personal Secretary Abagya Paudel, Joint-Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amrit Bahadur Rai, Executive Chairman of Rastriya Samachar Samiti Dharmendra Jha and President's Communication Expert Kiran Kumar Pokharel also returned home.

Amid multiple scientific warnings of rising temperatures, rising emission of greenhouse gasses, and the rising suffering people underwent with climate catastrophes from across the globe, the annual conclave on climate change for this year is going on in Baku, Azerbaijan. It began on November 11 and is scheduled to last through November 22.

It is the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which is being attended by over 51,000 people spanning from the Heads of States and of governments, ministers, climate scientists, campaigners and youths from the countries which are parties to UNFCCC.

Both in the global leaders' addresses and agenda on the negotiation tables, the most common is the 'climate finance'. For a long, the agenda of climate finance has been surviving under different names and phrases but noticeable results are elusive in the midst of global politics of fossil fuel greeted with weather extremes of larger scale and intensity. Last year, it was made vibrant under the term, Loss and Damage Fund, and this year, the New Collective Quantified Goals (NCQG).

NCQG is said to be a more scientific goal on climate ambition and actions which is based on the needs and priorities of the developing and the least developed countries. It has the foundation on the very commitment of the developed countries to extend 100 billion US Dollars a year to the developing and poor countries, which however was claimed to have met in 2022- delaying two years of the target year. As the countries suffering worst from climate change were denouncing the delayed fulfillment of commitment, the climate debates found it vague and non-transparent, thereby setting the NCQG to be enforced from 2025 onwards.

President informs world of Nepal's suffering

President Ram Chandra Paudel, who led the Nepali delegation at COP29, also underlined the need of climate finance for Nepal in his address to the world leaders' summit in Baku.

He pointed out the urgency of the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund as well. The Himalayan nations like Nepal must be adequately compensated for climate-related loss and damage while the finance for climate action should be in grants, not in loans, according to him.

"As the snow-covered white mountains turn into black rocks, the world needs to recognize that the effects are not limited to the mountainous nations but also extend to the coastal ones," President Paudel reminded.

This statement by President Paudel has finely reminded the world to protect the Himalaya, which is the world's water tower. The threat to the world's water tower is the threat to the sea, which warrants collective actions. Injustice meted out to the Himalayan nations is the injustice catered to the coastal countries. He has voiced for the rights of entire humanity in deed.

In addition to sharing Nepal's good practices like promotion of green energy and increase in forest cover, the President made a remarkable call to the developed and industrialized countries and emerging economies which hugely involve in oil politics and politics of fossil fuel: "The vast resources spent for the arms should instead be redirected for adaptation and mitigation efforts to protect human civilization, and bequeath a habitable planet to future generations."

Like President Paudel there are dozens of other nations condemning the acts, arguing the acts as sheer assaults on nature for individual interests that prefer economic progress to social and environmental values. The island nations have similar plights.

Moreover, the data on the rising emissions clearly indicate that the world is plagued by contradictory practices with a yawning gap between the ambitions and actions. The scientific reports have claimed that our efforts are insufficient and failure to keep alive the 1.5 Degree Centigrade target, a temperature goal set by the Paris Agreement.

If the emerging economies and industrialized and developed countries have played significant parts to cross the planetary boundaries, thereby fomenting climate extremes in the world, how can the poor and LDCs take lead on climate action? It is what dozens of countries have in common to urge and demand the historically culpable parties for easy, fast, smooth and transparent flow of climate finance to the vulnerable ones.

Differing stands, politics of fossil fuel

Similarly, there are differing views between the rising powers and the already developed ones that the latter are arguing and pressing the former that they were also responsible for the increasing emission of GHGs and deserve to assist others. But the rising powers are demanding hefty finance from the developed countries for their climate actions. It was reflected in the previous negotiations as well when two phrases got centre stage: 'phase out' and 'phase down'.  The rising economies were for phasing down coal while the already developed ones were for phasing out coal. It had clearly depicted the politics of fossil fuel.

Although several countries have been adopting green energies by gradually transitioning away from use of fossil fuel, the oil politics is not dented at all. Oil is the source of income and economic growth that empowers any country to wield international influence.

Whether it is by the developed and industrialized countries or by the rising powers that are polluting the world and causing climate extremes, those suffering most are evidently the poor and LDCs. So, collaborative and collective bargaining must not wane for the rights and justice. In the multilateral conclave, it (COP29) is a testing time for the LDCs to show a negotiation process that reminds those having larger shares to climate change and persuade for compensation. However, it is not a cakewalk either to reach a global consensus amid multilateral complexity.

It is time to observe whether the COP29 will be a success to dent the politics of oil and fossil fuel and make headway to green energy and economy.

Attendance and significance

Interestingly, as in the past, the UN event is evaded by many Heads of the States. The Associated Press (AP) has written news 'Earth's biggest polluters aren't sending leaders to the UN climate talks in a year of weather extremes'. It further mentioned, "The world's biggest polluters and strongest economies- China and the United States- aren't sending their top leaders. India and Indonesia's heads of state are also not in attendance, meaning that four most populous nations with more than 42 percent of all the world's population aren't having leaders speak."

However, the agenda of climate change is raised in many other regional and international forums. The UN General Assembly and the Summit of the Future are such high-level global events where this issue is raised prominently.

"Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, with adverse impacts that are disproportionately felt by developing countries, especially those that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. We commit to accelerate meeting our obligations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement," it is mentioned in the outcome documents of the 'Summit of The Future' held in September this year. It is named the 'Pact for the Future, Global Digital Compact and Declaration on Future Generations.'

Trump 2.0 and climate concern

As the climate negotiations continue in Baku, Donald Trump's victory in the US has alarmed the conservationists, researchers and various blocs alike that the US new government's likely withdrawal from the Paris Agreement would pose trouble in coping with climate challenges. Trump's protectionist approach with the 'Make America Great Again' slogan might have reinforced this concept.

Meanwhile, 'climate crisis' is mentioned as one of 10 implications of Trump 2.0 by Stephen M. Walt, a columnist at Foreign Policy and professor of international relations at Harvard University. He wrote: "Global progress on this issue will slow, efforts to accelerate the green transition in the United States will be reversed, and long-term efforts to secure humanity’s future will give way to short-term profits. This approach might also cede the high ground of green technologies to China and others, as well as weaken the United States’ long-term economic position, but Trump won’t care."

In Nepal's former Permanent Representative to the UN, Madhu Raman Acharya's view, Trump's comeback would not change the climate negotiation in Baku. But the policy he would take on global affairs and agendas like climate change would create a ripple. RSS

By the third day of the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku, Nepal had engaged in a couple of events. President Ramchandra Paudel addressed the World Leaders Climate Action Summit and also addressed a high-level session organized by Kyrgyzstan on ‘Advancing Mountain Agenda’. Nepal also hosted a high-level session titled “Addressing Climate-Induced Loss and Damage in Mountainous Regions,” and unveiled two projects—Managing Watersheds for Enhanced Resilience of Communities to Climate Change in Nepal (MaWRiN) and Building National Capacities of Nepal to Meet Requirements of the Enhanced Transparency Framework of the Paris Agreement (CBIT)—funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

In his summit address, President Paudel urged that vast resources currently allocated for arms be redirected toward adaptation and mitigation to safeguard humanity and ensure a habitable planet for future generations. “Not only have pledges for climate funding been insufficient from the outset, but the funds remain largely unmet,” he noted, pointing out that complicated procedures prevent targeted communities from accessing these funds. He called for immediate implementation of the “polluter pays and compensates” principle.

President Paudel also called for the rapid operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund to assist vulnerable developing countries. He argued that climate finance should account for contributions from nations like Nepal, which preserve biodiversity, protect the Himalayan cryosphere and supply freshwater. Such countries, he asserted, should be adequately compensated for climate-related loss and damage.

Highlighting Nepal’s dedication to sustainable resource use, he pointed to increased forest cover and expanded clean energy production, which aligns with Nepal’s ambitious emission reduction goals under its second NDC, benefiting global environmental efforts. However, he cautioned, “The challenges of global warming and climate change far exceed our capacity and resources.” He also emphasized the need for technology transfer and adequate capacity-building grants under the Paris Agreement, insisting that climate finance be provided as grants, channeled through national treasuries for effectiveness.

President Paudel expressed hope that COP29 would make concrete progress on setting a clear NCQG (New Collective Quantified Goal) aligned with climate justice, equity and capacity to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and advance sustainable development in least-developed and Himalayan nations.

In a session organized by Kyrgyzstan, Nepal pointed out that “due to the effects of climate change, young people from mountainous regions are forced to migrate, leaving the poor, women, children and the elderly to suffer the most.” President Paudel emphasized the need for integrated programs that simultaneously address poverty and climate change.

With climate indicators breaking records each year, people in mountain regions are facing increasingly harsh conditions. He cited the displacement of over 35 families from Thame village in Solukhumbu, Nepal, following a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) last August, as well as the tragic loss of over 500 lives due to floods and landslides during the monsoon season. “The suffering and trauma from these disasters are long-lasting. Thorough assessment and increased preparedness are crucial to reducing future loss and damage,” he added.

Additionally, the launch of the MaWRiN and CBIT projects underscores Nepal’s commitment to enhancing community climate resilience and strengthening national reporting capabilities under the Paris Agreement. This event, organized in collaboration with Nepal’s Ministry of Forests and Environment (MoFE) and GEF, gathered stakeholders from Nepal’s Ministry of Finance, MoFE’s Climate Change Management Division, and global climate organizations.

The MaWRiN project, funded with $9m, aims to build climate resilience for Indigenous people and local communities in the Marin watershed. Through nature-based solutions and diversified livelihood support, MaWRiN is designed to empower vulnerable communities to adapt to climate impacts.

The CBIT project, funded at $1.65m, focuses on building Nepal’s institutional capacity to meet the Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF) requirements of the Paris Agreement. By tracking progress on Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), CBIT will bolster Nepal’s climate reporting and accountability, targeting the submission of Nepal’s first Biennial Transparency Report (BTR).

Sindhu Prasad Dhungana, head of MoFE’s Climate Change Management Division, remarked on the importance of these projects for Nepal’s international climate commitments. “With MaWRiN and CBIT, Nepal is advancing its climate resilience and transparency, empowering communities while aligning national goals with global standards,” he said.

Esteban Bermudez, representing GEF, emphasized the projects’ importance in ensuring Nepal’s timely compliance with the Paris Agreement. Although he acknowledged some procedural delays, he praised Nepal’s ministries for their commitment and affirmed GEF’s continued support for Nepal’s climate objectives.

Dhaniram Sharma, joint-secretary of the Ministry of Finance, underscored the CBIT project’s critical role in enhancing transparency and accountability in Nepal’s climate action, highlighting MaWRiN’s focus on watershed management and community-centered sustainability. “While Nepal has received some climate financing, the escalating impact of climate change requires stronger financial backing,” Sharma stated.

Deepak Kumar Kharal, secretary of MoFE, closed the event by reaffirming the ministry’s commitment to supporting WWF Nepal in implementing these projects. He expressed optimism for increased international funding to scale climate resilience and mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change in Nepal. “These projects are not just a response to present challenges but a step toward a sustainable, resilient future,” Kharal concluded.

COP29, the 29th Conference of the Parties, opened on Monday with calls for urgent and united global action as leaders and experts highlighted the worsening climate crisis and the need for immediate action to meet the Paris Agreement goals. Addressing the gathering, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell underscored the need for resilience and determination, recalling his neighbor Florence, an 85-year-old climate victim, as a symbol of humanity’s tenacity in the face of escalating environmental impacts.

Stiell emphasized the necessity of establishing a new global climate finance goal and a functional international carbon market to combat climate change. “If at least two-thirds of the world’s nations cannot afford to cut emissions quickly, then every nation pays a brutal price,” he said, noting that climate finance should be viewed as a self-interested investment rather than charity.

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo issued a “red alert” over rising temperatures, as the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned that 2024 is on track to be the hottest year in recorded history. She described recent extreme weather events as “our new reality” and stressed that every fraction of warming increases risks worldwide. The latest WMO report revealed that 2023’s greenhouse gas levels are at record high, accelerating sea-level rise and extreme weather events across the globe.

New COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev of Azerbaijan urged attendees to see COP29 as a “moment of truth” for the Paris Agreement, highlighting that climate impacts are already evident in events like hurricanes, droughts and floods. “We are on the road to ruin,” he warned, calling for tangible leadership beyond rhetoric.

Nepal’s delegation under President Ramchandra Paudel will advocate for climate finance to support vulnerable mountain regions facing disasters such as glacial outbursts. 

The conference aims to address key issues, including setting climate finance targets, finalizing international carbon trading mechanisms, and increasing adaptation efforts. As COP29 unfolds, developing countries like Nepal are pushing for decisive measures to protect vulnerable communities and ecosystems from climate impacts.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and UN Climate Change released urgent reports on the escalating levels of greenhouse gasses and the inadequacy of current emissions targets. Both reports underscore the dire need for rapid and aggressive climate policies ahead of COP29, which is set to take place in Baku from Nov 11 to 22.

The WMO reported on Monday that greenhouse gas concentrations reached unprecedented levels in 2023, driving global temperatures higher and committing the planet to years of warming. The UN agency’s annual Greenhouse Gas Bulletin highlighted that carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide concentrations are all at record highs, with CO2 levels climbing at an alarming rate—up more than 10 percent in just two decades.

CO2 concentrations rose by 11.4 percent in the past 20 years, reaching 420 ppm in 2023. Methane and nitrous oxide levels were also significantly elevated, reaching 1,934 ppb and 336.9 ppb, respectively. These values represent 151 percent, 265 percent, and 125 percent increases from pre-industrial levels, according to the WMO’s Global Atmosphere Watch network of monitoring stations.

“These aren’t just statistics; every part per million and every fraction of a degree of temperature increase brings real impacts on our lives and ecosystems,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. The 2023 CO2 increase was 2.3 ppm—the 12th consecutive year with an increase above two ppm—driven by persistent fossil fuel emissions and aggravated by large-scale vegetation fires and the effects of El Niño.

The report underscores the difficulty in meeting the Paris Agreement goals to limit warming below 2°C, with an aspirational target of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. “We are clearly off track,” said Saulo. She stressed that warming feedbacks—where rising temperatures reduce the ability of ecosystems to absorb CO2—pose an even greater risk.

Due to the long atmospheric lifespan of CO2, the current levels of global warming will likely persist for decades, even with rapid emission cuts. “The warming effects of CO2 will not dissipate quickly, locking in temperature increases for generations,” noted Saulo. Radiative forcing—or the warming impact from greenhouse gasses—has increased by 51.5 percent since 1990, with CO2 accounting for 81 percent of this rise.

The WMO report highlighted concerns over the durability of natural carbon sinks. Currently, oceans and land ecosystems absorb nearly half of CO2 emissions, with oceans accounting for a quarter and land ecosystems nearly 30 percent. However, as Deputy Secretary-General Ko Barrett noted, climate change could reduce these natural carbon sinks’ efficiency. “Warming oceans may absorb less CO2, while wildfires could release more carbon into the atmosphere,” Barrett warned, adding that climate feedback could intensify warming further.

The WMO pointed out that current CO2 levels mirror those of 3m-5m years ago, a period when global temperatures were 2-3°C higher and sea levels were 10-20 meters above today’s levels. With the WMO warning that ecosystems themselves might soon become net emitters of greenhouse gasses, Barrett stressed the urgency of addressing these “vicious cycles” that could exacerbate the crisis and have profound impacts on human society.

These findings align with the UN Environment Program’s recent Emissions Gap Report, which assesses the growing disparity between current emissions and levels needed to meet climate targets.

On Monday, UN Climate Change released its 2024 Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) Synthesis Report. The report evaluates the collective impact of current national climate plans on anticipated global emissions by 2030, underscoring the critical changes required to avert severe climate impacts. 

UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell emphasizes that this report “must mark a turning point, ending the era of inadequacy and sparking a new age of acceleration” with much bolder climate plans needed from all nations in the coming year. 

The report finds that combined global NDCs would lead to a mere 2.6 percent reduction in emissions by 2030 from 2019 levels, only marginally improving on last year’s two percent projection. This falls far short of the 43 percent reduction by 2030 needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C, as advised by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Stiell states, “Current national climate plans fall miles short of what’s needed to stop global heating from crippling every economy and wrecking billions of lives and livelihoods across every country.” He emphasizes that “much bolder new national climate plans can not only avert climate chaos—done well, they can be transformational for people and prosperity in every nation.”

The report serves as a wake-up call, highlighting that “emissions of 51.5 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2030—only 2.6 percent lower than in 2019—will guarantee a human and economic train wreck for every country.” 

Stiell urges nations to adopt “ambitious new emissions targets that are economy-wide” and ensure they are backed by “substantive regulations, laws, and funding to ensure goals are met and plans implemented.” He also emphasizes the need for new NDCs to detail adaptation priorities and investments to protect vulnerable sectors and populations.

With COP29 in Baku on the horizon, Stiell stresses the importance of converting commitments from COP28, such as transitioning from fossil fuels and tripling renewables, into concrete policies. He concludes that new NDCs will be among “the most important policy documents” of the century, setting a clear path for renewable energy scaling, strengthened adaptation, and accelerated low-carbon transitions globally.

Both reports aim to inform COP29 discussions, where decision-makers are urged to treat the surging greenhouse gas levels as a “wakeup call” and to adopt more aggressive climate policies.

Minister for Forest and Environment Ain Bahadur Shahi has said that Nepal will present the Karnali Declaration on climate justice with high imporatnce at COP 29 taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan, next month.

During a pre-COP29 orientation organized by the Climate Change Management Division at Chandragiri, the minister assured participants of Nepal's effective participation in COP29. The three-day event began on Wednesday.

He said Nepal will participate in the forum with sufficient preparations and give its effective presence. 

The minister said that the session on Climate Finance scheduled to be held during the Conference is crucial for Nepal when it is challenging for developing countries like Nepal to address the climate change crisis without adequate financial support.

The workshop on climate change as preparation for COP29 was collaboratively organized by the Ministry and an organization Sath Sathai on October 19-20 in Karnali. 

The gathering participated by several climate experts, and people's representatives from all districts in the Karnali Province concluded by issuing the five-point Karnali Declaration. The minister said the Declaration will be significant for COP 29.

 "We should focus on limiting the temperature rise at 1.5 degrees," the minister said, adding that the world should prioritize the need to promote clean and durable energy resources and reduce carbon emissions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

During the Karnali workshop, Karnali's local representatives said agricultural loss, depletion of water resources, and the reduction in snowfall are among the perceived consequences of climate change lately seen in Karnali, according to the minister.

Similarly, Minister of State for Forest and Environment Rupa BK stressed that Nepal should assertively voice its concerns at the conference, advocating for developed nations to provide financial and technical support to help developing countries implement climate-friendly initiatives.