KATHMANDU: Nepali experts and practitioners have stressed that the government should keep climate change on the top of its policy and take concrete steps to mitigate the effects of the climate phenomenon in Nepal.

In a webinar entitled “Climate Change: Why it matters?” organized jointly by the Nepal Association of Humphrey Fellows and the US Embassy in Kathmandu recently, they argued that Nepal, as one of the most vulnerable countries, should take proper adaptation measures.

The keynote speaker former vice chancellor of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology Dr. Jibaraj Pokharel said Nepal should stress on international collaboration and formulate strategies to cope with future climatic conditions.

He said Nepal is witnessing a fair number of disasters including fire, flood and landslide as Nepal’s ecology is vulnerable to the effect of climate change.

Panelist Dr. Inu Pradhan Salikhe, the Assistant Professor at the Department of Architecture at Institute of Engineering stressed that urban infrastructures should be designed in a manner that it would be able to meet the future challenges.

Dr Mani Nepal, SANDEE Program Coordinator and the lead economist at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, said cities in South Asia were experiencing serious water drainage problems due to rapid urbanization, poor structures and climatic factors.

He said a study conducted in Bharatpur of Nepal and Sylhet in Bangladesh has found that 22.3 percent of land area in Sylhet and 12.7 % of the land area in Bharatpur are in the risk of flood under current scenario.

Shilshila Acharya, the chief executive officer of Himalayan Climate Initiative stressed that practicing sustainable lifestyle including promoting green jobs would play an important role to mitigate effects of climate change.

She also talked about her “Hamri Bahini- The Green Angels Social Enterprise’ that has created around 1,300 green jobs since 2013 for Nepali women.

The webinar about Climate Change was third among a series of policy dialogue to be jointly conducted by the Nepal Association of Humphrey Fellows (NAHF) and the US Embassy Kathmandu in 2020/2021.