Kathmandu, December 22
The UNESCO, in collaboration with the Nepal Forum of Science Journalists, organised a workshop for newly-elected members of Parliament, authorities from different municipalities in Kathmandu valley, and the media yesterday.
The workshop is the fifth instalment of the UNES- CO-NFSJ communicating science dialogue series, wherein participants explored the information and knowledge gaps that exist in the media sector to ensure public engagement in climate crisis response.
The workshop aimed to educate and empower local leaders and office holders with knowledge and skills needed to effectively address the impacts of climate change.
The workshop included presentations from experts such as Ms Deepa Oli, GESI focal point from the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Dr Nani Raut, Assistant Professor from Kathmandu University, and communication and community media expert Mr Raghu Mainali.
The experts delivered presentations on national and international mechanisms to respond to the climate crisis, understanding the crisis through climate change and disaster lens, and media experience in communicating climate crisis.
The workshop included presentations and interactive sessions for participants, allowing them to share their experiences and ideas for addressing the climate crisis at the local and national levels.
The workshop provided a platform for the local government officials to obtain knowledge to effectively understand and address the impacts of the climate crisis in their respective areas and raise these issues in the presence of members of the Parliament.
"Communication gap needs to be identified to disseminate information about climate change. It is high time we made political commitment to address climate change," said Nirjana Sharma, Programme Coordinator, UNESCO Nepal.
"Climate change is not just a problem of the plains or the mountains. The impacts will be seen everywhere, and everyone must be concerned," said Ganesh Shah, former minister of Environment, Science and Technology. "It is high time we capacitated institutions and individuals to get updated about the ever evolving terminology used in climate discourse. We should also be consistent with the use of terminologies like climate emergency and climate crisis. For Nepal, responding to climate crisis through adaptation is definitely important, but we all need to enhance our capacity to move towards mitigation approaches," said Shakti Bahadur Basnet, Member of Parliament and former minister of Forest and Environment.
"Effective communication is the need of the hour to educate and mobilise audiences to confront climate crisis.
Media always plays a pivotal role in helping the general public understand climate science. Today's dialogue has been fruitful in making the elected representatives aware of issues related to climate change and disaster risk reduction," said Rajan Pokhrel, President of Nepal Forum of Science Journalists.
A version of this article appears in the print on December 23, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
