Experts might encourage local leaders to package climate adaptation with more popular items like infrastructure
Few Nepalis would deny that extreme weather is reshaping lives – or taking lives. This month, floods and landslides have killed over 40 Nepalis. This summer, fires, floods, landslides, and lightning strikes left dozens more dead, with scientists linking the frequent natural disasters to climate change.
But in a country facing challenges from economic stagnation to malnutrition, how much political capital can Nepal's leaders expend on climate change adaptation? As extreme weather grows ever more common, Nepalis' representatives must contend with this question more often. For the past two years researchers at Inclusion Economics Nepal (IEN), an initiative affiliated with Yale Inclusion Economics and based at the Nepali think tank Governance Lab, have been studying the political response. The better we understand local political dynamics, the better we can advise Nepali policymakers on preparing local communities for climate change.
In 2023, IEN researchers surveyed over 12,000 local politicians across Nepal, from mayors to ward committee members. This study sought to gauge these officials' understanding of climate change. Nepali officials recognised its significance. But we also discovered that local leaders believed their voters considered climate change less important than other concerns.
A majority of respondents, 64 percent, saw climate change as a serious issue. But only 35 percent viewed it as an issue for their own municipality or ward. Moreover, respondents believed that only 40 percent of their constituents and 50 percent of other politicians considered climate change a serious issue. Our findings aligned with earlier studies: according to a 2022 Nepali government survey, just a third of Nepali households knew of climate change.
In this environment, local leaders have focussed on other pressing concerns. Respondents told IEN they ranked climate policy as a lower priority than improving education, roads, and other infrastructure. With local governments prioritising other problems, climate change adaptation – steps to help communities adjust to climate change – has suffered from lagging investment. The IEN survey found that as many as a third of local governments had little sense of whether their budgets allocated money for climate change adaptation, with one in 10 having allocated nothing to addressing climate change by 2023. Over a quarter had failed to establish Local Disaster Management Committees mandated by a 2019 law. Most also had yet to arrange insurance for natural disasters or set up early warning systems for floods and other disasters.
Last December, IEN launched a second survey whose findings echoed what IEN had heard in 2023: local officials were focussing more on economic development than on environmental protection, and they believed that these priorities reflected their constituents. Yet in a position paper published this June, the Nepali Ministry of Home Affairs warned that local governments were investing far too little in climate policy "relative to needs."
Additional studies published this year suggest that, contrary to politicians' beliefs, climate change is rising on the list of Nepali voters' concerns. A survey of Kathmandu Valley residents found that 66 percent of respondents had heard at least "a fair amount" about climate change. And a study of Central Nepal residents noted that they "accurately perceived" climate change-linked shifts such as "rising summer temperature, region-specific winter temperatures and extended monsoon seasons." With awareness growing in advance of the fast-approaching March 2026 general elections, politicians may see voting patterns shift.
But even if research shows that Nepali voters do want their leaders to invest more in climate policy, the path forward for climate change adaptation is less obvious than it might seem.
Local leaders face numerous, competing demands from constituents while working with limited resources. To understand what prevents local governments from investing more in climate change adaptation, we must examine how it competes –or might even overlap – with more immediate priorities like healthcare, education, or economic development.
There are a number of ways to tackle this issue. Experts might encourage local leaders to package climate adaptation with more popular items like infrastructure by, for example, building weather-resilient bridges and roads. From dams to drainage systems, infrastructure enables communities to adapt to climate change. Yet according to Nepali scholars and the World Bank, Nepal has struggled to integrate infrastructure and climate policy because it has divided responsibility between a range of government agencies, not to mention between the central government and local governments.
For Nepali policymakers to do their part, they must establish clear inter-agency protocols and create task forces that bring together officials for infrastructure, the environment, and disaster management. Local governments should consult their communities to understand which climate risks matter most to constituents. The central government, meanwhile, could standardise climate impact assessments for major upcoming infrastructure projects.
Citizens can play a crucial role by voicing climate concerns at local government meetings, joining community disaster preparedness groups, and holding elected officials accountable for climate action during elections, starting in 2026. Meanwhile, environmental groups could educate voters to help communities understand how climate policies connect to everyday issues like water security, agricultural productivity, and flood protection.
Before groups like IEN move from brainstorming ideas to advocating policies, however, Nepali leaders and voters need more data on some key questions. Do Nepalis want local governments, the central government, or both to address climate change? How do climate concerns influence voting patterns? What role should infrastructure projects play in Nepal's climate strategy?
By answering these questions, Nepal can design policies tailored to the dynamics of local politics. The priority should be demonstrating that climate change adaptation aligns with what Nepali voters want-and identifying which levels of government they trust to deliver on politicians' promises.
The authors are with the think tank Inclusion Economics Nepal (IEN)
