After a month of the devastating flood in Nepal, three important narratives surrounding the past, present and future of climate action have come up strongly. First, the frequency of such unprecedented calamities, scientists say, is going to be higher in the Himalayan region. The glaciers are melting at a faster speed, thereby weakening the entire glacial range that will cause repeated disasters. It is now always going to be not a matter of if, but when. ICIMOD, an intergovernmental institution based in Kathmandu, has said that the melting rate has doubled compared to the period before 2000 with one of its study stating that the ice is melting 65% faster. Just two days back, landslides and heavy rains killed 30 people in Nepal, with Manag and Mustang districts being severely affected.
Second, the fight against the climate crisis and most of the past initiatives have been futile to a larger extent as the poor countries continue to bear the heavy cost of climate inaction. The sheer lack of will to act on climate problems is too perplexing even at the face of imminent threat, cautioned many a times by climate leaders and world foundations. Three years back, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited Nepal and sounded the alarm from the Everest region that the Himalayan glaciers are melting rapidly, stating that the “rooftops of the world are caving in” and warning that this poses a severe crisis for over a billion people downstream in the region. He said at the recent 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that his message was dismissed at the time as overstating the dangers.
Third, given the seriousness of the situation, can there be a climate alliance among the immediate neighbors in South Asia, which can formulate a mechanism to strengthen early warning, weather monitoring and capacity building for disaster management. Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah proposed a trilateral Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism involving Nepal, India and China during his address at the UNGA. His proposal calls for joint cooperation to protect the fragile Himalayan ecology, focuses on sharing satellite data and technical expertise along with monitoring dangerous glacial lakes, strengthening early warning systems and coordinating cross-border emergency responses. He said, “Climate change does not recognize borders,” thus it is imperative to join hands. It was not a victim card that the PM was laying, but a genuine call for unity to save the Himalayas. Many international voices have been raised for this cause. After the Rasuwa flooding, which has so far claimed over 1,400 lives with 5,000 people still missing, climate activist Greta Thunberg called for climate reparations for Nepal, holding wealthy countries and fossil fuel companies responsible for the climate crisis.
{{/usCountry}}Third, given the seriousness of the situation, can there be a climate alliance among the immediate neighbors in South Asia, which can formulate a mechanism to strengthen early warning, weather monitoring and capacity building for disaster management. Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah proposed a trilateral Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism involving Nepal, India and China during his address at the UNGA. His proposal calls for joint cooperation to protect the fragile Himalayan ecology, focuses on sharing satellite data and technical expertise along with monitoring dangerous glacial lakes, strengthening early warning systems and coordinating cross-border emergency responses. He said, “Climate change does not recognize borders,” thus it is imperative to join hands. It was not a victim card that the PM was laying, but a genuine call for unity to save the Himalayas. Many international voices have been raised for this cause. After the Rasuwa flooding, which has so far claimed over 1,400 lives with 5,000 people still missing, climate activist Greta Thunberg called for climate reparations for Nepal, holding wealthy countries and fossil fuel companies responsible for the climate crisis.
{{/usCountry}}PM Balen’s UN address was hailed internationally for its substance and intention and is very much aligned with Nepal’s official position since climate change emerged as a global issue at the 1992 Rio Summit. Nepal’s climate experts have urged the government to initiate formal diplomatic consultations with India and China, designate institutional focal points, and develop a framework for joint glacier monitoring, scientific data-sharing and cross-border early-warning systems to build the proposed Mechanism. For the National Climate Preparedness, “We now have to mandate the preparation of a time-bound national program that integrates climate risk into infrastructure design, reconstruction, land-use planning and public investment, with clear institutional responsibilities,” Prashant Singh, a well-known climate advocate in Nepal shared, adding, “For climate finance, we have to prepare a scientifically grounded assessment of climate losses and financing needs, identify specific projects and funding requirements, and pursue measurable grant commitments through bilateral negotiations and multilateral climate funds.” The cost of rebuilding is estimated at $5 billion by Nepal’s finance ministry.
This is a proposal worth pursuing and should be taken up on priority during PM Balen’s upcoming visit to India scheduled, as per sources in Kathmandu, for the third week of November. India could help Nepal take a lead role in seeking climate justice as the Himalayan country now struggles to move from search and rescue phase to rebuilding. India has been the first responder sending essential relief materials last month as it did during the 2015 earthquake. But it will be prudent to join hands to strengthen a long-term mechanism for mutual benefit of both the countries.
In addition, three important factors surrounding the fallout from such a disaster need immediate attention. First, it has now been determined that some 17,000 children in Nepal are in need of support in terms of education, basic health care and livelihood in Rasuwa, Dhading, Nuwakot and Chitwan districts. This vulnerable lot along with hundreds of homeless women are in most urgent need of rehabilitation. Second, past records suggest that trafficking in person suddenly increases in the aftermath of any such large-scale disaster. Women and girls thus face the danger of being trafficked across the border to India like in the post- earthquake phase. Third, the labor migration to India, Gulf and South-east Asian countries is bound to increase. Since a large section of local communities have been uprooted, with few villages completely swept out, the survivors are bound to look for jobs abroad in a country that already face heavy flow of labor migration. Around three million Nepalese currently work abroad with some 800,000 labor permits being issued by the government annually. In the long-run, many may become climate refugees, an issue India will have to grapple with given the open border with Nepal.
(The views expressed are personal)
This article is authored by Akanshya Shah, journalist and researcher from Nepal based in Delhi.