Tall order

Nepal has already experienced the effects of climate change. The temperature in the country is increasing by as much as 0.06 degrees every year, and in the past 50 years significant glacier shifts have been recorded. Also there has been a dramatic change in the pattern of the weather such as heavy rainfall that triggers floods and landslides causing enormous damage in their wake. Unless the climate change can be addressed, the consequence of it can have long term impact in the future. Nepal recognizes this, and it has ratified the United Nation’s Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto protocol. According to experts, the most likely cause of climate change is the increase of the greenhouse concentration. The Kyoto protocol had set the limit for emissions for the countries to abide by, and in particular the developed countries burning up more than their share of fossil fuel. Since the Kyoto protocol will be in effect until 2012, global discussion on climate change is to be held in Copenhagen to come up with future steps to be taken to lower the impact of climate change globally after that.

In this regard, the officials of South Asian countries held Monday a regional ministerial workshop in Kathmandu to come up with a common agenda regarding the Himalayan region in the Denmark Summit. The Himalayan region has a very fragile ecosystem. It encompasses a large swathe of land passing through several countries, and it is in the interest of the South Asian countries to have a common approach in preserving this ecosystem that feeds many mighty rivers which are some of the major reserves of fresh water in the world. South Asia is one of the most impoverished regions and among the first victims of global warming would be the poor here. It should be realized here that every country has to do its bit to keep the global warming and climate change within limits. The meeting of the officials of the South Asian experts should work out a common strategy that they would take to the Denmark Summit taking into account their specific needs and demands.

Meanwhile, the countries of South Asia are already working on dealing with the climate change and examples cited are sustainable forestry in Nepal, harvesting flood-resistant crops in Bangladesh and production of renewable source of energy in India. The developed countries, in the meantime, have made commitments to reduce emission substantially. The climate change being a global phenomenon requires that action be taken by all the countries for the good of the planet. Thus, a futuristic view is in order and ambitious plans towards this end that might require drastic measures should be taken up seriously. This might mean the change of lifestyle, but arresting the climate change by doing so would be well worth it. The developed countries should assist in this endeavour by providing the developing countries with the needed finance and technology to meet the challenges. It goes without saying that any deal reached should be fair as regards the permitted emissions for respective countries and the fight against climate change should be a united effort for it to succeed.

Very sorry

The families of many of the disappeared during the ten years that the insurgency held sway

are still waiting for confirmed news. As per the

National Human Rights Commission, there still remain 835 disappeared people whose whereabouts are yet to be ascertained. Many commission and probes came and went but the crux of the matter remains as it is. No definitive answer has come about

despite successive governments making the usual “strong commitment” in doing the needful to reveal the truth as regards whether the said disappeared people are alive or dead. Whatever is revealed, it will be the families concerned to be certain about the fate of their beloved ones.

Both the NA and the Maoists were responsible for many cases of disappearance made during the insurgency days. The information could be possibly found with some effort. But, despite all the commitments in this direction have merely been eyewash, with nothing concrete emerging. Such a state of affairs cannot bring about credibility, the need grows to do something in this regard because the government has many other tasks of equal importance to do. The case of the disappeared is already overdue.