Zeno Swijtink
12-04-2009, 10:23 PM
Nepal vows to fight threats posed by climate change after concluding historic high-altitude meet (https://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/news-archive/1-top-story/2734-cabinet-meets-at-everest-foothill.html)
https://www.nepalnews.com/main/images/stories/igallery/cabinet/large/dec_04_09_cabinet_b1.jpg
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal (center) and other ministers at a press conference organised after the historic cabinet meeting at Mount Everest base camp at Syangboche, Friday Dec 04 09. nepalnews.com/Ram Humagai
Friday, 04 December 2009 11:48
The historic cabinet meeting at Kalapatthar plateau near Everest Base Camp (5,242 meters) in the foothills of Mt Everest has concluded by issuing a 10-point "Everest declaration" which calls for concerted actions to minimize adverse effects of climate change in the Himalayan region.
https://www.nepalnews.com/main/images/stories/igallery/cabinet/large/dec_04_09_cabinate_meet1_b.jpg
Ministers raise their hands to pass the agenda during the cabinet meeting at Kalapatthar, Solukhumbu. nepalnews.com/NPA
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal (center) and other ministers at a press conference organised after the historic cabinet meeting at Mount
Informing about the decision of the cabinet meeting at a press meet organized in Syangboche (3,780 m) after returning from Kalapatthar, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said that through the Everest declaration Nepal wants to express its commitment to fight the threats posed by global climate change and show areas of cooperation to follow for this noble purpose.
The meeting held for around 20 minutes also declared Banke National Park as new national park and Api-Nampa and Gauri-Shankar as conservation areas.
In the 10-point declaration, Nepal has expressed commitment to work together with the international community to mitigate the threats of climate change to the entire human civilization including the world's fragile bio-diversity, heritages and for sustainable socio-economic and cultural development of mankind.
He said the Himalayan region which boasts of Mt Everest, the world's tallest peak, including the majestic 2,700 kilometer-long mountain range, has a special significance for the socio-economic and cultural development of 1.3 billion people living in the region including maintaining the global environmental balance.
"But the world-wide climate change patterns of recent years has started to negatively affect the Himalayas and the people living in this region, their socio-economic development, biological diversity and other sectors, " he said, adding that as a result of which the risks of floods, landslides, glacier outbursts, drought, deforestation and other natural calamities have greatly increased.
He said the adverse effects of climate change is not only being seen in the areas near to Himalayan region, but in the whole of South Asia including the ecology of the whole world.
"Due to global climate change and its effects, the entire human civilization is faced with additional challenges for their survival," PM Nepal claimed.
PM Nepal said that Government of Nepal has from the past many decades been expressing bilateral and multilateral commitments for sustainable development and environmental protection knowing that conserving and protecting planet Earth, our shared home, is not only in the interest of us but our future generations too.
Twenty-four cabinet ministers, including PM Nepal, had flown to Kalapatthar at 9:20 am on Friday to hold the historic cabinet meeting set in the backdrop of the majestic Himalayas, including Mt. Everest, the world's highest mountain.
A rescue team led by Usha Gurung along with six doctors and a team of mountaineers accompanied the ministerial team for this historic event.
Speaking to media-persons before the ministerial team was air-lifted to Kalapathhar, Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Dipak Bohora had said that the government is holding the cabinet meeting to draw the attention of the world to the threats of climate change in the Himalayas and the people living in the region.
State-owned Nepal Television broadcast the special event live from Syangboche.
The ministerial team had reached Lukla Airport in Solukhumbu district on Thursday to take part in the historic meeting.
---------------------
Fantastic photos here, go take a look...
Defrosted - Nepali Times (https://nepalitimes.com/issue/2009/12/5/Nation/16562)
Defrosted
The future of the Himalaya depends on Copenhagen
KUNDA DIXIT
FROM ISSUE #479 (04 DEC 2009 - 10 DEC 2009)
The people in the mountains of Nepal do not know that the futures of their children and grandchildren are tied up with how the preparatory meetings for the international climate change conference next week in Copenhagen go.
Will the rich countries agree to cut back to 40 per cent of 1990 emissions in the next ten years (which scientists warn is needed to keep the average rise of global temperatures to within two degrees Celsius) or will they stall at the 13 per cent the Americans say is as far as they can go? The Copenhagen meet will also reveal whether the rich countries are actually willing to help developing countries make the switch from fossil fuel to renewables, and whether they will help to fund adaptation measures so the world's poor can cope with rising sea levels and receding snowlines.
Maps of the Everest region from the 1960s show no water in the Imja Glacier below Lhotse. Today there is a lake here two km long, 500 metres across and 100 metres deep. If Imja Tso bursts, it will unleash a catastrophic flood downstream.
Melting glaciers and receding snowlines are the most dramatic visible proof of global warming. Nearly 1 billion people downstream in China, southeast Asia, India and Pakistan depend on the Himalaya and the Tibetan plateau for water.
But the focus on snow and ice takes attention away from the water. The Himalaya is also a gigantic sponge storing groundwater. In fact, scientists estimate that only nine per cent of the water in the Ganga is from melting glaciers. The rest is from monsoon runoff, and climate change is also affecting weather patterns, leading to extreme rainfall events and droughts.
The Thamserku Glacier with its tongue-shaped moraine indicating the extent of the ice till recently.
Green lakes created by the melting glacier, coloured by copper-rich rocks below Ama Dablam.
The North Ama Dablam Glacier with melt pools where there used to be ice.
What should Nepal do?
Given the low per capita carbon footprint of Nepalis (less than one ton of carbon dioxide per person per year, compared to 30 tons in Europe and 300 tons per capita in Qatar) the issue of climate equity is bound to come up in Copenhagen next week.
No matter what Nepal does, it will not make that much of a dent in saving the world from climate change. But Nepal needs to switch to renewables not just to do our bit to save the planet, but also to save our economy. Nepal imports all of its petroleum products from refineries in India and the trade deficit is growing. This growing economic reliance on India is going to deepen as the world's oil reserves peak, and crude oil becomes more expensive. This will only increase our political dependence on our southern neighbour. Unless we implement a strategy to start a hydro economy. For Nepal, switching to renewables is a political imperative, not just an environmental question.
https://www.nepalnews.com/main/images/stories/igallery/cabinet/large/dec_04_09_cabinet_b1.jpg
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal (center) and other ministers at a press conference organised after the historic cabinet meeting at Mount Everest base camp at Syangboche, Friday Dec 04 09. nepalnews.com/Ram Humagai
Friday, 04 December 2009 11:48
The historic cabinet meeting at Kalapatthar plateau near Everest Base Camp (5,242 meters) in the foothills of Mt Everest has concluded by issuing a 10-point "Everest declaration" which calls for concerted actions to minimize adverse effects of climate change in the Himalayan region.
https://www.nepalnews.com/main/images/stories/igallery/cabinet/large/dec_04_09_cabinate_meet1_b.jpg
Ministers raise their hands to pass the agenda during the cabinet meeting at Kalapatthar, Solukhumbu. nepalnews.com/NPA
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal (center) and other ministers at a press conference organised after the historic cabinet meeting at Mount
Informing about the decision of the cabinet meeting at a press meet organized in Syangboche (3,780 m) after returning from Kalapatthar, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said that through the Everest declaration Nepal wants to express its commitment to fight the threats posed by global climate change and show areas of cooperation to follow for this noble purpose.
The meeting held for around 20 minutes also declared Banke National Park as new national park and Api-Nampa and Gauri-Shankar as conservation areas.
In the 10-point declaration, Nepal has expressed commitment to work together with the international community to mitigate the threats of climate change to the entire human civilization including the world's fragile bio-diversity, heritages and for sustainable socio-economic and cultural development of mankind.
He said the Himalayan region which boasts of Mt Everest, the world's tallest peak, including the majestic 2,700 kilometer-long mountain range, has a special significance for the socio-economic and cultural development of 1.3 billion people living in the region including maintaining the global environmental balance.
"But the world-wide climate change patterns of recent years has started to negatively affect the Himalayas and the people living in this region, their socio-economic development, biological diversity and other sectors, " he said, adding that as a result of which the risks of floods, landslides, glacier outbursts, drought, deforestation and other natural calamities have greatly increased.
He said the adverse effects of climate change is not only being seen in the areas near to Himalayan region, but in the whole of South Asia including the ecology of the whole world.
"Due to global climate change and its effects, the entire human civilization is faced with additional challenges for their survival," PM Nepal claimed.
PM Nepal said that Government of Nepal has from the past many decades been expressing bilateral and multilateral commitments for sustainable development and environmental protection knowing that conserving and protecting planet Earth, our shared home, is not only in the interest of us but our future generations too.
Twenty-four cabinet ministers, including PM Nepal, had flown to Kalapatthar at 9:20 am on Friday to hold the historic cabinet meeting set in the backdrop of the majestic Himalayas, including Mt. Everest, the world's highest mountain.
A rescue team led by Usha Gurung along with six doctors and a team of mountaineers accompanied the ministerial team for this historic event.
Speaking to media-persons before the ministerial team was air-lifted to Kalapathhar, Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Dipak Bohora had said that the government is holding the cabinet meeting to draw the attention of the world to the threats of climate change in the Himalayas and the people living in the region.
State-owned Nepal Television broadcast the special event live from Syangboche.
The ministerial team had reached Lukla Airport in Solukhumbu district on Thursday to take part in the historic meeting.
---------------------
Fantastic photos here, go take a look...
Defrosted - Nepali Times (https://nepalitimes.com/issue/2009/12/5/Nation/16562)
Defrosted
The future of the Himalaya depends on Copenhagen
KUNDA DIXIT
FROM ISSUE #479 (04 DEC 2009 - 10 DEC 2009)
The people in the mountains of Nepal do not know that the futures of their children and grandchildren are tied up with how the preparatory meetings for the international climate change conference next week in Copenhagen go.
Will the rich countries agree to cut back to 40 per cent of 1990 emissions in the next ten years (which scientists warn is needed to keep the average rise of global temperatures to within two degrees Celsius) or will they stall at the 13 per cent the Americans say is as far as they can go? The Copenhagen meet will also reveal whether the rich countries are actually willing to help developing countries make the switch from fossil fuel to renewables, and whether they will help to fund adaptation measures so the world's poor can cope with rising sea levels and receding snowlines.
Maps of the Everest region from the 1960s show no water in the Imja Glacier below Lhotse. Today there is a lake here two km long, 500 metres across and 100 metres deep. If Imja Tso bursts, it will unleash a catastrophic flood downstream.
Melting glaciers and receding snowlines are the most dramatic visible proof of global warming. Nearly 1 billion people downstream in China, southeast Asia, India and Pakistan depend on the Himalaya and the Tibetan plateau for water.
But the focus on snow and ice takes attention away from the water. The Himalaya is also a gigantic sponge storing groundwater. In fact, scientists estimate that only nine per cent of the water in the Ganga is from melting glaciers. The rest is from monsoon runoff, and climate change is also affecting weather patterns, leading to extreme rainfall events and droughts.
The Thamserku Glacier with its tongue-shaped moraine indicating the extent of the ice till recently.
Green lakes created by the melting glacier, coloured by copper-rich rocks below Ama Dablam.
The North Ama Dablam Glacier with melt pools where there used to be ice.
What should Nepal do?
Given the low per capita carbon footprint of Nepalis (less than one ton of carbon dioxide per person per year, compared to 30 tons in Europe and 300 tons per capita in Qatar) the issue of climate equity is bound to come up in Copenhagen next week.
No matter what Nepal does, it will not make that much of a dent in saving the world from climate change. But Nepal needs to switch to renewables not just to do our bit to save the planet, but also to save our economy. Nepal imports all of its petroleum products from refineries in India and the trade deficit is growing. This growing economic reliance on India is going to deepen as the world's oil reserves peak, and crude oil becomes more expensive. This will only increase our political dependence on our southern neighbour. Unless we implement a strategy to start a hydro economy. For Nepal, switching to renewables is a political imperative, not just an environmental question.