March 25, 2005

With the amendment of Treaty Act (Ordinance), the coast is clear for Nepal’s ratification of the Kyoto protocol

By A CORRESPONDENT

Nepal is much vulnerable to the global warming as rising temperature will threaten its glaciers in the Himalayas. The studies conducted by international organizations have already revealed that some of Nepal’s Glacial Lakes are on the verge of bursting causing GLOFs.

If Nepal’s natural reservoirs of fresh water burst, the country will have to face serious consequences. The outbursts will not only have direct loss in infrastructures but also result in indirect losses in soil erosion and so on.

Nepal had missed final deadline for the ratification Kyoto Protocol. But now because of the recent amendment of Treaty Act (Ordinance), Nepal is in a position to ratify it in any day.

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If Nepal ratifies the protocol, it will be eligible to procure various kinds of benefits from international community. Following the ratification by Russia on Nov 18th, 2004 - the 129th country to ratify the Protocol - the protocol came into force last month. As per its rules, the Kyoto Protocol came into force beginning February 16, 2005 - 90 days after Russia endorsed it; and 7 years after it was first proposed in the Japanese city whose name it carries.

“After amendment of the Treaty Act, we will move our file for ratification now. As the government has already committed for its ratification, this will be announced soon,” a senior official at the Ministry of Population and Environment said.

Once Nepal signs the Kyoto Agreement, biogas plants developed over the years, can be boon for the country. The country now has over 200,000 biogas plants and some clean energy groups are working to build many other plants in coming years. Biogas plants can be used to earn money through carbon trading.

According to the WWF, global climate change is an environmental challenge like no other. It threatens to disrupt the very basis on which life on earth is sustained – the climate. If the predicted temperature increase comes to pass, possibly up to 5.8oC by 2100, there will be no sector left untouched. Increase in frequency of extreme weather events and expected sea level rise of up to a meter are often mentioned in the popular press but forestry, biodiversity, agriculture, rainfall and human health and well being will all be strongly affected.

The impacts of global warming are becoming increasingly evident. A recent report “Impacts of a Warming Arctic” from a team of 300 scientists working under the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA) states that “The Arctic is now experiencing some of the most rapid and severe climate changes on Earth”. Sensitive Polar Regions and indeed our own Himalayas, sometimes referred to as the third pole, are experiencing accelerated global warming. High mountain communities in Nepal have noted that glaciers are retreating at unprecedented rates. These extremities of the planet are in a real sense the canary in the coalmine, alerting the rest of the world to the extent of the changes that are coming.

Experts argue that Nepal has a number of strong reasons to support the Kyoto Protocol. Kyoto is the first international agreement that sets binding targets on developed countries (known as Annex I countries to the UNFCCC) to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but none on developing countries like Nepal.

Nepal is the last country in South Asia that is yet to ratify the treaty. Maldives and Bangladesh, with the most to lose from predicted sea level rise, were the first to ratify (1998, 2001) followed by India, Sri Lanka and Bhutan in 2002.

Nepal has a large potential to develop CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects – any sector where use of unsustainable firewood or fossil fuels can be replaced with clean energy will qualify. The most advanced of Nepal’s CDM projects is the Nepal Biogas Support Program, which has already received a Letter of Intent from the Community Development Carbon Fund (CDCF) of the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Unit for the purchase of 1 million tons of carbon dioxide (1 ton of CO2 abated is referred to as 1 ER) for around $4.5 million. Sales of ERs to the CDCF are pending ratification of the Protocol by Nepal.

Nepal’s fragile mountain ecosystem makes its communities particularly vulnerable to climate change. The most obvious and visible impact is accelerated melting of glaciers and rapid formation of glacial lakes, a number of which have reached critical sizes and could result in devastating outburst floods (GLOFs).

“We have calculated that every biogas plant is saving about 5 tons of carbon dioxide every year. There are already 130,000 plants. Biogas makes a lot of sense in carbon trade as single biogas plant saves 5 tons of CO2 and plant can earn 20 to 25 dollars,” said Bikash Raj Pandey, country representative of Winrock International.