KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 20

Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Pampha Bhusal today unveiled Nepal's roadmap for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG- 7). The roadmap aims to provide access to affordable and clean energy to all by 2030, increase the amount of renewable energy and increase energy efficiency.

It also includes efforts to increase access and impact of clean and renewable energy for sustainable development, and to gradually reduce the amount of fossil fuel. The roadmap has been prepared with the support of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).

On the occasion, Minister for Energy Bhusal said there was still a lot to do in energy efficiency sector although some initiatives have already been taken. 'The government has approved Nepal Energy Efficiency Strategy, 2018 while electric vehicles are being introduced in public transportation gradually,' she said.

Minister Bhusal also said that Nepal needs support from development partners and international agencies to expedite her efforts towards achieving SDGs.

Stating that the Electricity Regulatory Commission started functioning since May 8, 2019, she said the new Electricity Bill is in the Parliament under consideration while renewable energy and energy efficiency bills have been drafted, and is under consultative process.

Minister for Energy Bhusal said 93 per cent of the population has access to electricity while the per capita electricity consumption has reached to 260 KWh and the installed capacity is 1478 MW. 'We believe that it will be possible to reach the 2030 SDG target without much difficulty,' she added.

Member of the National Planning Commission Surendra Labhkarna, Executive Director of Alternative Energy Promotion Center Madhusudhan Adhikari and Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Energy Madhukar Prasad Rajbhandari and Director of UNESCAP Hong Peng Liu were present on the occasion.

A version of this article appears in the print on September 21 2021, of The Himalayan Times.