KATHMANDU, SEPTEMBER 9
CPN-Maoist Centre parliamentarian Madhav Sapkota has said the impacts seen in some mega infrastructure projects recently initiated by Nepal was due to the effects of climate change.
Delivering a presentation on 'Sustainable Water and Waste Management and Strengthening Local Governance for Attaining Climate Resilient Development' in the Regional Climate Summit being held in Bangladesh's Dhaka, Sapkota said the increasing risks of natural disasters such as flood and landslide in Nepal in recent days were due to the effects of climate change. He said, "The government of Nepal and concerned agencies are aware about taking forward the works related to infrastructure development with minimal environmental damage." Stating that Nepal could learn from the countries in South Asia, especially India and Bangladesh who are racing ahead in terms of development, the Parliamentarian informed that Nepal had been advancing development works and environment conservation simultaneously.
He further said, "Since Nepal is at high risk of climate change, it needs strong effort and support from its neighbours and the world community to move ahead to save itself from the impacts of climate change." The three-day event organised by the Climate Parliament Bangladesh has a total of 40 parliamentarians from Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Bhutan.
The Nepali delegation attending the event comprises Nepali Congress's Pradeep Kumar Poudel, CPN-UML's Thakur Gaire, and Rastriya Swatantra Party's Shobita Gautam and Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee of Infrastructure Development Uday Bhandari. Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhary, Speaker of Bangladesh's Parliament, had inaugurated the event on September 8.
Ambassadors of various countries as well as representatives of the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and organisations working in the sector of climate change are also participating in the Summit.
Bangladesh has created a separate structure called 'Climate Parliament' within the Parliament to find ways to avoid the adverse effects of climate change.
A version of this article appears in the print on September 10, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
