Climate change impacts in Nepal and international efforts

Nepal is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, although its share of global greenhouse gas emissions is tiny (well under 0.1%). Its fragile mountains, dependence on rain-fed farming and poverty magnify the impacts. Studies by DHM show maximum temperature rising by about 0.05 °C per year, faster at higher altitudes.

Impacts of climate change in Nepal

1. Glacier retreat and GLOF risk – Himalayan glaciers are shrinking; glacial lakes such as Imja, Tsho Rolpa and Thulagi are growing and could burst (glacial lake outburst flood), threatening villages and hydropower downstream.
2. Erratic monsoon – late onset, intense short rainfall, long dry spells; more floods in the Terai (e.g. 2017 floods) and landslides in the hills.
3. Drying springs and water scarcity in the mid-hills, increasing women's workload.
4. Agriculture and food security – lower yields of rice, wheat and maize due to drought, heat and new pests; shift of crops upwards (apples moving to higher altitude in Mustang).
5. Health – dengue, malaria and kala-azar spreading to hills (dengue outbreaks in Kathmandu, 2019 and 2022), heat stress in the Terai.
6. Biodiversity – tree line and species moving upward, invasive species spreading, wetlands drying.
7. Hydropower – changes in river flow and higher sediment load affect generation and damage turbines.
8. Forest fires – longer dry seasons cause more fires in spring.
9. Tourism – loss of snow and unstable trekking routes; disasters affect visitors.
10. Livelihoods and migration – poor and marginalised people lose income and migrate.

International efforts towards mitigation of climate change

1. IPCC (1988) – provides scientific assessments.
2. UNFCCC (1992) – framework convention; annual COPs; common but differentiated responsibilities.
3. Kyoto Protocol (1997) – binding cuts for developed countries (about 5% below 1990 levels in 2008–2012); emissions trading and CDM (Nepal's biogas earned carbon credits).
4. Paris Agreement (2015) – all countries give NDCs; goal well below 2 °C, pursue 1.5 °C; climate finance; global stocktake. Nepal ratified it in 2016 and committed to net-zero by 2045.
5. Montreal Protocol and Kigali Amendment – phase-out of CFCs and phase-down of HFCs.
6. REDD+ – payments for forest conservation; Nepal's Terai Arc programme is part of it.
7. Finance mechanisms – Green Climate Fund, GEF, Adaptation Fund, LDC Fund, and the new Loss and Damage Fund.
8. Regional cooperation – ICIMOD (based in Kathmandu) works on Hindu Kush Himalaya climate research.

Nepal uses these platforms to demand finance and technology as a least-developed mountain country, through its NAPA (2010), LAPA, National Climate Change Policy (2019) and National Adaptation Plan (2021).