New Policy to Tackle Nepal’s Climate Change Concerns

The Government of Nepal is coming up with a new National Forest Policy that would address the climate change concerns of the country.

The policy that is centered towards empowerment of local units or Federal Nepal has climate change on top of its priority list, informed Ishwari Prasad Poudel, Spokesperson for the Department of Forests (DoF).

“Previous policies were not as clear on climate change. They had not covered broader areas related to climate change. The upcoming policy aims to address the issue of climate change by including all international treaties on climate change,” says Poudel.

Poudel went on to say that the new policy, coming as a replacement to the extant National Forest Policy 2015, will guide all levels of government and also local levels in designing action plans and policies to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Besides climate change, the draft policy also covers various sectors related to environment and forest conservation.

The policy includes a provision that requires inclusion of measures on climate change mitigation, adaptation and resilience in all forestry-related development programs.

As a special feature, the policy also calls for conducting of technology programmes and arrange needed resources and technology for the convenience of vulnerable communities.

“Based on larger themes, local levels can draft their own programmes and actions for preparing themselves against climate change,” adds Poudel.

The policy also focuses on controlling carbon emissions, discouraging deforestation and addressing the community-level concerns through indigenous methods.

Nepal is one country that is most vulnerable to climate change over the sensitive environment and has been pitching its concerns at various global climate change meetings such as Paris Conference and the Conference of Parties (COP23) among others.

The new policy comes as a hope to Nepal to address the country’s long-standing climate change concerns.