Kathmandu. The major political parties have included the issue of climate change in their manifestos.

This issue has been given special priority this time as the country has been facing big problems due to climate change and people’s lives have also been affected.

Although Nepal’s role in climate change is less, it is a vulnerable country in terms of impact and the problems are seen directly in the mountainous region, the political parties have prioritized this issue at the policy level. The Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) have explicitly included the issues of climate change in their manifestos. Other political parties have also included this issue in their manifestos and made it clear that this issue is common.

There is no snow in the mountains. Excessive rainfall, scanty rainfall and unseasonal rainfall have been causing great problems and complications in Nepal every year. Water sources in rural areas are drying up. People have to wander in search of drinking water. Although clean drinking water is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution, the common people are facing problems due to lack of resources.

KATHMANDU: The Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) has given priority to organic, environment-friendly and climate-friendly agriculture system based on biodiversity. The NCP has resolved to declare the country an organic country along with increasing production. The CPN has a policy of conserving biodiversity and indigenous crops by controlling harmful chemical pesticides. The CPN has also mentioned in its commitment letter the program to ban the use of GMO crops on the grounds of public health and biosecurity. This is an important basis for fighting climate change.

The NCP has stressed on the promotion of green economy. Industries, businesses, offices and establishments will have to adopt environment-friendly methods. It aims to create a clear legal and institutional basis for carbon trading by formulating policies for carbon pricing. The new policy has included in its promissory note the production, purchase and sale and regulation of carbon credit by promoting carbon emission reduction projects.

The NCP has given top priority to the ambitious goal of reducing carbon emissions in the context of Nepal’s emphasis on the use of renewable energy to achieve the goal of ‘net zero emission’ by 2045. The government aims to implement adaptation and mitigation programs to reduce the risk to people’s lives due to increasing global warming and climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions.

The party has also planned to take initiative to build a network of stakeholder countries under Nepal’s leadership by drawing global attention to the risks of climate crisis in the Himalayan countries by internationalizing the issues of global warming and climate change.

The NCP has plans to launch the Save the Mountains campaign and make special diplomatic and technical initiatives to make maximum use of the funds and other opportunities of the Green Climate Fund established by the Global Agreements on Climate Change, Loss Compensation Fund and other opportunities. The CPN has listed the issues of developing disaster reduction infrastructure in disaster-prone areas and effective implementation of preparedness mechanism as the new programme so far.

The CPN has also pledged to provide immediate relief to the families affected by natural disasters, floods, landslides and earthquakes, and to implement a long-term livelihood plan and to pay attention to disaster-induced risk and its management while formulating development plans.

The Nepali Congress has a plan to implement the national commitment to make a net zero emission nation by 2045 by making structural reforms in the energy, transport, industry and infrastructure sectors.

Nepal has made various commitments in international forums on climate change. Nepal had already participated in the International Conference on Climate Change (COP26) and had announced to make Nepal a net zero carbon emitting country by 2045. Accordingly, the National Determined Contribution (NDC) and adaptation plan were prepared. The NC has taken various resolutions to ensure the financial resources, technology, institutional capacity and clear action plan required to translate the declared commitments into concrete results.

The manifesto made public by the Nepali Congress for the election to the House of Representatives scheduled for March 4 has also pledged to implement the national commitment to become a net zero emitter country by 2045 by making structural reforms in energy, transport, industry and infrastructure sectors.

The pledges have set a target to significantly increase the proportion of clean and renewable energy to make the energy used in industrial and domestic sectors environment-friendly. The NC is committed to protecting the environment and forests, reducing carbon emission, green economy and disaster preparedness to reduce the increasing pollution and the serious crisis caused by climate change and natural disasters on public health and livelihood.

The NC has pledged to implement stringent national environmental standards for air, water, land and food systems in line with the fundamental right to live in a clean and healthy environment guaranteed by the constitution. Likewise, the NC has set a target of green development along with development and environmental balance.

The NC has pledged to maintain balance between development and environment by compulsorily using low-carbon and environment-friendly technology in infrastructure, urban development, industry and public services. The NC has pledged to protect forests, biodiversity, land and water bodies, wetlands, lakes and ponds and the natural ecosystem by retaining at least 46 per cent of the total forest area of the country.

The group has pledged to mobilize climate finance from international sources such as Green Climate Fund, Loss and Damage Fund, World Bank and Asian Development Bank in a strategic, result-oriented and coordinated manner in the days ahead. Likewise, the NC has pledged to develop the necessary legal and institutional framework for identifying, acquiring and effectively utilizing the sources of international and domestic climate finance by attracting private sector and foreign investment. Adaptation programs, insurance, employment and direct assistance will be implemented keeping women, indigenous and marginalized communities at the center for climate justice.

KATHMANDU: The CPN (UML) has set a target to develop Nepal as a clean energy hub of South Asia by ensuring energy security by producing, transmission and distribution of renewable energy including hydropower, solar and green hydrogen. The government has set a target to double electricity production and per capita electricity consumption.

The UML has put forward a programme to ensure the supply of drinking water by mobilizing a certain percentage of the available climate finance in the field of climate adaptation in climate-resilient programs such as protecting water sources. The UML has a programme to ensure biodiversity, settlement expansion and balance with human activities, protect water resources, soil fertility, food production, local climate, forests and other ecosystem services. Likewise, the UML has given priority to the conservation of water sources, lakes, rivers and wetlands.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party has put forward a programme to link climate change adaptation and resilience to development planning, infrastructure design and budgeting process. The group plans to make high-level diplomatic advocacy for Nepal’s compensation and grants from the Global Climate Fund by approving the National Climate Finance Strategy. The party has also included in its manifesto to raise the issues of climate change in the form of climate justice in the international forum and to raise Nepal from the identity of a victim country.

The delegation is scheduled to strengthen Nepal’s agenda and demands at the upcoming climate summits by approving the Climate Diplomacy Roadmap. Similarly, Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Ujyalo Nepal Party have also included the climate change issue in their manifestos.