KATHMANDU: With the COP29 climate conference set to take place in Azerbaijan, Nepal has finalized its key priorities for the event.
President Ram Chandra Paudel is expected to attend the UN climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, from November 11 to 22.
Dr. Sindhu Prasad Dhungana, Chief of the Climate Change Division at the Ministry of Forest and Environment, confirmed that Nepal’s agenda for the conference has been finalized.
The primary issues to be addressed will include loss and damage, climate finance, and the challenges facing mountain regions.
These priorities were highlighted in Nepal’s national status paper, developed through consultations with various groups focused on topics such as carbon trading, climate finance, mitigation and adaptation efforts, capacity building, gender equality, transparency, and good governance.
In order to draw world attention to climate change impacts in Nepal, a high level session would be held under the chairmanship of President Paudel during the COP29 on November 13, according to Minister for Forest and Environment, Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri.
Nepal had got permission from the UNFCCC for holding a separate session during the major event.
The session will feature ‘addressing loss and damage in mountain region’.
It is expected that the session would be attended by UN officials, representatives from mountainous countries, and development partners, among others.
The pressing issues Nepal faced relating to loss and damage including in Melamchi, Mustang, Kanchanpur, Thame and Kathmandu Valley would be shared on the occasion.
Dhungana further informed that LDCs would hold a group round discussion on November 5-6, while G77+ China will meet on November 9-10.
Nepal will attend both of these. Member of the Environment Conservation and Climate Change Management Council, Bimal Regmi, informed that Nepal should raise issues of present national interests and needs where Himalaya comes on top.
As a party to UNFCCC, Nepal has been continuously attending COP, preparing national adaptation plans, sharing climate ambitions and reminding the industrialized countries to pay heed to urgency of climate change in LDCs and resources-crunch countries.
Ministry Secretary Dr Dipak Kumar Kharal observed that COP29 was significant for Nepal also because ‘climate finance’ and ‘carbon credit’ are major agenda.
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