Talking to Republica after his return from the conference, Batu Krishna Upreti, vice chair of the least developed countries (LDC) expert group and former chief of climate change division, said both the handing over of the LDC chairmanship to Nepal and the extension of Kyoto protocol is in favor of the country. [break]
“While leading the LDCs provides us an immense opportunity to prioritize our environmental needs, the commitment of developed countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 18 percent in aggregate by 2020 also benefits Nepal,” Upreti said.
“Our glaciers are melting fast, unusual weather patterns have been apparent, affecting our agriculture and showing other effects like early sprouting, flowering and fruiting in some wild plants in the recent years, shifting of herbs and vegetation towards higher altitude,” he said.
The climate change has also increased the risks of outbreaks of malaria, Kala-azar and Japanese encephalitis, Upreti said. “With such climate induced vulnerabilities, whatever efforts are made will naturally have greater meaning for us,” he added.
According to Upreti, the agreement among Kyoto Protocol parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions only 18 percent by the next eight years is not in line with the assessment report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which urges reduction of at least 25 to 40 percent in order to restrict the rise in global temperature by 2 degree Celsius.
However, Upreti elaborated, the commitment should be viewed in positive light as countries like Nepal can hardly do anything even if the developed nations refused to go by Kyoto commitment.
“Similarly, it is kind of a dream come true for us that Gambia handed over the chairmanship of LDC to Nepal. Nepal´s leadership would be effective from January 1, 2013,” he said. According to him, while the opportunity is sure to keep the country in limelight, it would also be a test of our ability to lead.
“We would be coordinating and negotiating on behalf of 48 LDCs on climate change regime,” he said.
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