KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 5
Members of Action Aid International Nepal today met a number of members of the House of Representatives including House Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire and urged them to prioritise and address the urgent issue of climate change and climate justice.
The team also placed letters drawing the attention of the parliamentarians in their pigeonholes.
AAIN has embarked on its 'Climate Justice Campaign' in response to the burning issue of global warming. Climate change has posed an existential threat with far-reaching consequences that transcend boundaries, touching upon social, economic, political, and cultural aspects.
Today, AAIN members called upon elected parliamentarians to take proactive measures to address the adverse impacts of climate change through policy changes, appropriate budget allocation, and active monitoring of government targets.
During the meeting, AAIN sought various supports from government like call for grants, not loans, to address climate change problems and advocated prevention of mounting debt burden that could harm the country's economy. Similarly, the activists also suggested that lawmakers formulate dedicated climate diplomacy mechanism within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to ensure transparency in climate finance, support for vulnerable groups, and development of a national climate plan.
In response to these calls, speaker Ghimire expressed his commitment to address climate-related challenges and their mitigation as one of his top priorities. He reaffirmed his dedication to pushing for progress with regard to climate-friendly policy formulation and monitoring of climate-led initiatives.
Climate Justice Campaign, initiated on June 5 during World Environment Day, primarily works to foster a deeper understanding of the intricate connections between climate change, its repercussions, and the injustices it perpetuates. In the short period of its initiation, the campaign has sparked a groundswell of support, particularly among youth, women, and children, through a week-long series of events in Kathmandu and neighbouring regions.
On September 4, ActionAid Federation, a presence in over 72 countries, officially launched the 'Climate Justice Campaign' on a global scale, with AAIN playing a central role in coordinating activities within Nepal.
The campaign's main objective is to mobilise the energy and passion of youth, women, and children to raise public awareness of the pressing need for climate justice.
Nepal is situated in a geographically vulnerable location, and thus faces severe climate change impacts that jeopardise people's livelihoods and adaptive capabilities across multiple sectors. These impacts are manifested in the form of floods, landslides, droughts, and are expected to increase in frequency.
Despite being responsible for a minimum 0.025 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Nepal has demonstrated its commitment to mitigating climate change in alignment with the Paris Agreement.
The nation has developed a long-term strategy to achieve sustainable emission reductions and aims to attain net-zero emissions by 2045, actively participating in international climate change initiatives.
However, AAIN emphasises that climate justice has not received the necessary attention in practice, with Nepal's annual budget allocating insufficient resources to combat climate change.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 06, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
