Two Nepalese students’ pleas for climate justice at COP29

As the curtains of the 29th edition of the UN climate summit are set to fall on Friday, the world is eagerly waiting for some see some crucial decisions, especially for the most climate-vulnerable countries.

The decisions mainly include climate justice and a manifold rise in climate funds.

Here The Climate Watch got some observations and recommendations pitched by two Nepalese female students Prerana Thapa Magar and Susmita Roka. These, mainly focused on climate justice, are as follows.

Being students at the Asian University for Women (AUW), the opportunity to volunteer for projects like the Green Bangle Movement has been eye opening and the start of an eco-conscious journey.

The Green Bangle Movement aims to protect the coastal environment of Bangladesh, implemented in Sitakunda, on the outskirts of Chittagong, with eco feminism and ecopreneurship in the frontier.

The privilege to become familiar with the sustainable plantation and the climate action initiatives, the cruciality of women’s participation in combating climate change, has led us to think of the impact we, women, could create in the world and our own country.

Climate justice might be new to our ears but nevertheless its influence has always been present.

Often overlooked and ignored, climate justice in Nepal can no longer be kept on hold, and has to get addressed properly. For global emission Nepal’s contribution is less than 1%, however each year climate hazards are taking the lives of tens of thousands of people in a country.

Nepal is not fully unaware and has put some effort into negotiating with the international community. Last year, the former prime minister participated in COP28 and drew attention to some crucial climate issues faced by the country in the mountain region.

In recent years, policies and bills have been passed and international climate agreements have been signed which one can agree to have been a good start towards action against climate change. However, the main point here is not that we need policies, instead it is high time we discuss the justice to those policies. As someone born and raised here, we have witnessed drastic changes with escalating extremities in weather patterns with little to no effort to tackle them.

Mountain region climate change hazards

At COP29, Nepal highlighted the climate challenges in the mountainous region. Rising global temperatures are melting glaciers, and harming the delicate mountainous environment. Nepal holds a unique vulnerable position because it houses 8 highest mountains of the world, and also the total glacierized surface area of Nepal was found to be 5,324 km^ 2 (2001).

If the temperature keeps increasing, the glacier can outburst, killing many. Apart from the risk of global warming, the excessive number of tourism in such vulnerable areas has increased the pollution. The wastages are not retrieved and the dead bodies of those who died while climbing mountains are yet to be recovered adding pollution to it.

Annual natural disasters, wildfire poaching

This year’s monsoon death toll, by flood, landslide and inundations, reached more than 200 in Nepal as of early October, according to media reports.

However, other than death, thousands of people are affected because of property losses and infrastructure damage. The unplanned housing near the river bank is the highlighted reasons; however, the rise in water level has made even the houses not near the river have the risk of flood during monsoon.

The Koshi Barack is often opened during the heavy rainfall time by the neighboring country putting our whole side at the verge of dying because of the flood. Where do we demand climate justice for this?

Similarly, wildlife fires that keep surging every year have been serious. Most of the fires happened between February and May, destroying over 40,000 hectares yearly and resulting in deaths, serious injuries, and major economic and environmental harm. With increasing forest fires, Nepal’s biodiversity cannot protect its own ecosystem let alone the globe.

Kathmandu chocking in air pollution

The capital city of Nepal has been making headlines for its achievements in making it to the top of the chart of the most polluted city in the world several times. According to WHO, 73.6 deaths per 100,000 people occurred due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the year 2021 making it the number one reason for the death.
These deaths and increasing lung related sickness can be seen as the after effects of global warming and environmental pollution alongside the factor including geographical structure of the Kathmandu Valley that doesn’t allow the air pollutants to go out of the valley.

To tackle these, climate change inflicted hazards, like other developing countries. As a contributor of less than 0.9% of total emission, Nepal deserves justice from developed countries.

The authors, Prerana and Susmita, are also involved in the Green Bangle Movement