Commitment should be implemented to tackle climate crisis: Foreign Minister Khanal
लगानी न्यूज
Kathmandu
Minister for Foreign Affairs Shishir Khanal has stressed the need for the international community to move towards the implementation of the climate change crisis through commitment.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, who is in New York in course of attending the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), said at the high-level meeting on climate held at the UN headquarters today, adequate support should be mobilized to the countries that are vulnerable to climate risk.TAG_OPEN_div_40
According to Minister Khanal’s private secretariat, Nepal has suffered huge loss of life and property due to the recent floods.TAG_OPEN_div_38
He said hydropower infrastructure has been severely damaged and development gains achieved through decades of efforts have been set back, and as per a preliminary assessment, Nepal suffered over five billion US dollars due to climate-related disasters.TAG_OPEN_div_36
“Nepal has not created this crisis. Nepal’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions is less than 0.1 percent, but Nepal has been suffering its impact unevenly and repeatedly,” he said. He said that the climate disaster is not only a humanitarian emergency for Nepal but also a serious challenge related to the development emergency, the crisis of justice and the survival of the community and future generations.
Stating that the Bhotekoshi floods were not just a local incident, he expressed the view that it should be taken as a serious warning to other countries that are at risk of climate change.TAG_OPEN_div_32
“Whatever happens in the Himalayas is not limited to the Himalayas,” he said, adding, “The Himalayas are an integral part of the life-support system of the earth.” He stressed that the international community should move from commitment to implementation, adding that adequate, advance and easily accessible climate finance should reach the communities before disasters strike, rather than providing assistance only after disasters.
Stating that climate TAG_OPEN_div_28 adaptation should be prioritized, he clarified, for a country like Nepal adaptation was not an option but a basis to save life.
Minister Khanal also stressed on increasing access to global early warning systems, reliable technologies adapting to mountain ecosystems, climate information services and climate resilient infrastructure.TAG_OPEN_div_26
He also stressed the need to adequately capitalize the Loss and Damage Fund to make it quick, simple and easily accessible, and multilateral development banks to mobilize finance quickly and cost-effectively during disasters. Pointing out the need to address the impacts of climate change in an integrated manner, from the mountains to the seas, he stressed the need for the world to make concerted efforts to sustain the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming.TAG_OPEN_div_24
} “This is a matter related to the survival of mountain and coastal communities,” he said. He warned that if the world community is not serious about the climate crisis immediately, there could be even bigger risks in the future. He called on heads of state and government, ministers, charities, media, civil society, the private sector and the academic community to move forward with courage and clarity against the climate crisis.
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