BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 11. COP29 is an opportunity for Nepal to present its case, said President Ramchandra Paudel in an exclusive interview with Trend, as today COP29 is kickstarting in Baku.
“I will strongly put our case in the conference on the issues pertaining to the climate induced disasters and also shall seek the COP’s technological as well as adaptive solutions. We need to dwell on them because, as you perhaps know, that Nepal was recently hard hit by incessant and erratic rains and floods, which were responsible for the loss of more than 200 precious human lives and huge damage to critical infrastructures. The natural disaster has costed millions of dollars to a least developed and landlocked nation!” said Nepal’s president.
He went on to add that the global warming has caused the snow-capped mountains black.
“Glaciers have burstcausing massive destructions and posing serious threats to the people living down-streams. We must understand that crisis facing the mountains is a global issue, not just that of the mountainous countries. Actually, Nepal, which has been blessed with majestic Himalayas- the major source of fresh water in the region, deserves special attention from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in view of Nepal’s high degree of vulnerability to climate change. Nepal deserves particular attention also because of its painstaking endeavors, yet with a scant resource, in addressing the subsisting climate related challenges. The generosity, on the part of the GCF, is critical as Nepal has already embarked on to ambitious goals of climate action such as achieving of the carbon neutrality by 2045 and negative carbon emission by 2050,” said Paudel.
Besides, as the president said, Nepal is also committed to increase the forest cover to 45 percent by 2030, which is already achieved.
“Therefore, at the moment, Nepal is in dire need of a generous support from climate finance and also advance technological knowhow in order to enhance its capacities, which are imperative for Nepal’s transition to a climate-resilient future. Against this backdrop, our principal expectations from COP29 which is also widely dubbed also as a “Finance COP,” are that: the issue of mobilizing the adequate fund for the mitigation and adaptation actions against climate change, by dint of scaling up the pledge, is resolved. At the same time, we expect that the fund is allocated judiciously and in an unhindered way among needy nations,” he added.
COP29 is officially starting today in Baku. The event, which will take place from November 11 to 22, will bring together world leaders, politicians and climate experts to discuss the pressing issues of climate change. Climate finance, emission reduction targets and global cooperation are on the agenda. It is expected that the results of COP29 will have a significant impact on the formation of the future climate strategy of the planet.
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