Kathmandu, September 20

Minister of Forest and Environment Shakti Bahadur Basnet left the country last night, leading a Nepali delegation to participate in the United Nations Climate Action Summit to be held in New York, USA. The summit kicks off on September 23 at the UN Headquarters, New York.

Minister Basnet is scheduled to address two sessions during the summit, according to his Press Coordinator Dayanidhi Bhatta. He will address sessions entitled ‘A Call for Action: Raising Ambition for Climate Adaptation and Resilience’ and ‘Community Resilience Partnership Programme’. The delegation will participate in the UN special session on sustainable development goals on Tuesday.

Before leaving for New York, the minister talking to mediapersons said Nepal would use the UN forum to appeal the international community to come up with sustainable and effective programmes for climate change adaptation.

The world is soon to face a grave crisis due to consequences of climate change, and its solution is not possible through ordinary efforts. Therefore combined efforts at the global level is needed and this issue will be raised during the summit on behalf of Nepal, according to the minister.

Nepal plans to appeal for arrangements of resources for enhancing adaptation capacity of countries like Nepal, which have the least contribution to climate change or the greenhouse effect, but bears the brunt of its consequences.

Besides, Nepal is to draw the world’s attention towards the alarming rate at which snow was melting due to climate change. The summit is being held as preparation for the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change scheduled to be held in Chile in coming November.