Nepal – Climate context & Challenges

• 3 distinct ecological regions: high mountains (35%), middle mountains (42%), and lower altitude Churia/Terai range (23%)
• High share of world’s biodiversity. 118 ecosystems with unique floral and faunal diversity.
• Glaciers, snow and ice-melt waters from the Himalayan region feed more than 6,000 rivers across the country.
• About 66% of the population (around 28 million) lives in rural areas.
  
• 25% of the population lives below poverty line.

Key Challenges:

• Nepal is the 4th most climate vulnerable country in the world due to unusual geography (from just 60 m to over 8,800 m above sea level elevation).
  
• Weak institutional capacity to manage the range of climate challenges it will face.
• Current climate risks are endemic and pose increasing threats: climate projections suggest more intense rainfall and increased frequency in extreme events
• Farmers are increasingly vulnerable to the uncertainties of climate induced weather changes.
• Much of the forests are degraded and increasingly prone to forest fires.
• Vector-borne diseases are rampant; patterns of disease incidence are shifting as temperatures change.

Between 2001-2008: Floods and landslides killed 1,673 people, affected 221,372 families, killed 33,365 livestock, destroyed 52007 houses and washed away 22000 ha of land.

A Presentation by: Purushottam Ghimire, Joint Secretary, and Chief of Env Division, and Focal person of UNFCCC Ministry of Environment Nepal

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