National Civil Society Organisations Demand Climate Justice and Fulfilment of Climate Finance Obligations ahead of COP29

Kathmandu: The national civil society consultation ahead of the 24 United Nations Climate Change Conference (more commonly known as COP29) titled “National Climate Assembly: Integrating Climate Justice Agenda into National and International Strategies” concluded in Kathmandu.

The event aimed to discuss issues Nepal should raise at the upcoming 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) on climate justice and equitable access to climate finance. The event was organised by national, regional, and international civil society forums and networks.

Speakers and participants in the event emphasised that despite contributing negligible carbon emissions, countries like Nepal, suffer from the most adverse effects of climate change, and therefore, must have just and equitable access to climate finance.

Based on the principle of climate justice, members of the civil society expressed serious concerns about the climate finance based on debt and increasingly becoming centred around mitigation. They demanded that Nepal must receive adequate grants for climate adaptation, resilience, and loss and damage to address this unjust and unequal situation.

The Chief Guest, Hon. Minister of Forests and Environment, Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri, mentioned that Nepal has committed to expanding its forest cover to 45% by 2030 and aims to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2045. He highlighted that the Government of Nepal’s focus at COP29 will be on adaptation, loss and damage compensation, and capacity-building on the issues of climate change.

Hon. Kamaladevi Pant, the Chairperson of the Development, Economic Affairs, and Good Governance Committee of the National Assembly, emphasised that although Nepal contributes the least to global carbon emissions, it faces the disproportionate impact of climate change. She stressed that Nepal must be able to effectively raise its genuine concerns on climate justice during the COP29.

Prof. Dr. Shivraj Adhikari, Vice Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, pointed out that it is unreasonable to place conditions on the provisioning of climate finance for a crisis that Nepal has not contributed to. He also stressed the need for better inter-ministerial coordination to tackle the climate crisis. Dr. Madhav Karki, the keynote speaker at the event, warned that if the current slow response to climate change continues, the world would soon enter a climate emergency. He stressed on the importance of expediting climate actions to prevent such an emergency.

Arjun Kumar Karki, the Executive President of Rural Reconstruction Nepal, stated that developed nations must provide unconditional public, grant-based, new and additional finances to least developed and developing countries, emphasising on their historical responsibility in climate change.

The participants collectively emphasised that, during the 29th COP, Nepal must raise the issue of the unequal impacts and risks of climate change that the country faces, highlighting the need for Nepal’s issues to be strongly presented in the international community. The event also discussed the disproportionate impacts of climate change on local communities, especially women, indigenous people, youth, and minorities.

Civil society representatives called on the government to develop clear domestic and international strategies for effective advocacy in raising funds according to the principles of climate justice. They also demanded that the government ensure decentralised and transparent use of climate funds with clear mechanisms for local engagement in policymaking.

Over 200 participants, including civil society representatives, government agencies, and representatives From bilateral and multilateral organisations, attended the program.

The event was organised by Rural Reconstruction Nepal, in collaboration with the Dedicated Grant Mechanism for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (DGM Nepal), Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN), Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), World Food Forum Nepal, SathSathai, Human Rights Alliance Nepal, UN Women, Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development, Coalition for Gender Responsive Climate Policy, South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE), and LDC Watch.

The Declaration issued during the event will be submitted to the Honourable President on the 7th of November, the organisers announced.