BAKU: The 29th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) is beginning in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Monday. The annual UN climate event is scheduled to take place from November 11 to 22.
According to National News Agency Nepal, Nepal has consistently prioritized the COP meetings since becoming a party to the UNFCCC. This year, Nepal will be represented by a high-level delegation led by President Ramchandra Paudel. President Paudel departed on Sunday to attend the event, following an invitation from the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.
President Paudel is set to address the high-level session of the ‘World Leaders Climate Action Summit’ on November 12. Additionally, Nepal will conduct a special high-level session on November 13, under President Paudel’s leadership, to focus global attention on its climate agenda. A high-level meeting addressing climate-related damage and loss in mountainous areas will also take place during the conference. Nepal plans to u
se this platform to share the impacts of floods and landslides resulting from unusual weather patterns in regions such as Melamchi, Mustang, Kanchanpur, Thame, and the Kathmandu Valley.
Historically, Nepal’s high-level delegations have been led by prominent figures, such as then Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal during COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009, then President Bidya Devi Bhandari at COP24 in Poland in 2018, then Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at COP27 in the UK in 2021, and then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal at COP28 in the UAE in 2023. As a signatory to various climate change conventions, Nepal is actively implementing a national adaptation action plan with a target completion date of 2050.
Minister for Forest and Environment, Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri, also traveled to Azerbaijan on Saturday to participate in COP29. Accompanying him was Secretary Dr. Dipak Kumar Kharal and other officials. Key topics at COP29 will include climate change adaptation, loss and damage, carbon credit, climate finance,
technological development and transfer, and issues concerning least developed countries (LDCs). The Ministry has crafted a position paper focusing on climate change impacts in Nepal, prioritizing mountain issues, loss and damage, and climate finance. Various preparations were undertaken to effectively present these agendas at the conference.
This year’s COP is particularly significant for Nepal, especially in terms of climate finance and carbon credit.