KATHMANDU, Sept 26: Prime Minister Balendra Shah effectively raised Nepal’s climate crisis, climate justice and Himalayan risks at the United Nations General Assembly, but experts say the message now needs to be translated into concrete international initiatives and an implementation roadmap.
In his address to the UN General Assembly, Shah highlighted that although Nepal contributes little to global greenhouse gas emissions, it is bearing a disproportionate share of the impacts of the climate crisis. He called for climate justice, recognition of historical responsibility and greater contributions from countries with higher emissions and greater financial capacity.
Climate change expert Dr Bimal Regmi said the prime minister’s address clearly established Nepal’s climate vulnerability and its demand for climate justice on the global stage. However, he said Nepal now needs more concrete proposals to translate the message into international negotiations and mechanisms.
“Overall, the prime minister’s address effectively raised climate justice, loss and damage, and Nepal’s climate vulnerability on the global stage,” Regmi said. “But the important question now is how to translate this into implementation.”
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Another climate change expert, Manjeet Dhakal, said Shah’s address strongly established Nepal’s presence on the international stage.
According to Dhakal, one of the most balanced aspects of the speech was Shah’s call for historically high-emitting and financially capable countries to fulfill their responsibilities without blaming any particular country or turning climate change into a geopolitical battleground.
Regmi said Nepal should also make its demand for grant-based and easily accessible climate finance more specific and quantitative. Nepal needs to take into international negotiations questions such as how much finance climate-vulnerable and least developed countries require, how direct access can be ensured, and how mechanisms can be created to provide finance quickly after disasters.
“Simply asking for climate finance is not enough,” Regmi said. “There must also be concrete proposals on how much is needed, where it will come from, and how and how quickly vulnerable countries can access it.”
Regmi said Nepal should link the climate crisis with reforms to the global financial system, including the lending and financing structures of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and multilateral development banks, debt restructuring, post-disaster debt-payment suspension and concessional financing based on climate risk.
Shah also called for a fairer global economic system, arguing that international cooperation and reforms to the financial system are necessary to prevent climate-related disasters from reversing development gains.
“The prime minister has delivered a political message,” Regmi said. “Now it must be translated into concrete agendas such as loss and damage, climate finance, early warning systems and a dedicated mechanism for mountain countries.”
Dhakal said the UN climate conference, COP31, scheduled for November, will be important for Nepal and that the country should effectively advance these issues there as well.
“To turn the commitments made at the UN into results, Nepal must accelerate its domestic preparations,” Dhakal said. He stressed that the entire government machinery would need to be mobilized for this purpose.
