Nepal facing brunt of global warming: Foreign Minister Gyawali

Nepal is facing the brunt of global warming with the melting of ice and shrinking glaciers in the Hindukush Himalaya region which provides water, ecosystem services for some 240 million people and a business as usual approach, Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has warned.

Extreme weather incidents in Nepal are on the rise, he said, pointing out that the country witnessed the first-ever confirmed case of a tornado in March last year that led to the deaths of 31 people. Research conducted by the Department of Hydrology of Nepal has established that the tornado incident was clearly linked to the global warming, he said.

Speaking to a group of visiting Indian journalists here on Friday, Gyawali said climate disruptions mostly harm the people and societies who have contributed least to the problem. Nepal is one of the countries at the receiving end, he said. Nepal contributes only 0.027 per cent of the total global carbon emission and despite 45 per cent of its surface area covered by forests, the country is among the most vulnerable in terms of climate change impact, he said.

While announcing that the pressing issue of climate change would be the focus of the first edition of the ‘Sagarmatha Sambaad’ hosted by the Nepal government in April, the foreign minister said that scientists who analysed data for the last 45 years have concluded that Nepal's average maximum temperature was increasing at the rate of 0.056 per cent annually.

This increase, he said, was higher than the average global maximum temperature increase. The minister also said that if the temperature increase continues in the current business as usual scenario, two-thirds of the glaciers in the Hindukush Himalaya region will melt by the end of the century.

Painting an alarming picture, Gyawali noted that women in Nepal's mountainous regions now have to travel more distances to fetch drinking water as wells and springs are drying up near to them due to the adverse effects of climate change.

He also pointed out that the ground water level in Nepal's southern Terai region, close to India, was also dropping to an alarming level. Therefore, the Nepal government decided to dedicate the first edition of the Sagarmatha Sambaad to the urgent topic of climate change, which he said has now reached a crisis proportion. The minister said the deliberations during the three-day dialogue session are expected to help build international consensus on the climate agenda and contribute to the existing global processes.

“We strongly believe that the most challenging issues facing humanity can be addressed through discourses and reflections,” he said, while explaining that Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) is a symbol of friendship, a landmark and a world heritage.

Mt. Everst itself is the tallest witness to all the events and developments unfolding around the world, including the adverse effects of climate change.

“It is the barometer of the rapidly changing environment and ecosystems,” the foreign minister said, adding that Nepal has invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the first edition of Sagarmatha Sambaad to be held from April 2 to 4.