Apa Sherpa and his team have just completed the first month of their epic 1,700 km journey on foot across Nepal’s Great Himalayan Trail to draw attention to the threats of global climate change and the opportunities of eco-tourism. This week, Nepali Times spoke to Apa Sherpa as he sat besides Tso Rolpa lake in [...]
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RTCC: The Sagarmatha National Park is an exceptional area with dramatic mountains, glaciers and deep valleys where Mount Everest (or Sagarmatha in Nepali), the highest peak in the world (8,848 m), is located. Several rare species, such as the snow leopard and the lesser panda, are found in the park. The air temperatures in this [...]
A new knowledge product; Decentralized Energy Access and the Millennium Development Goals was launched jointly by the Minister of Environment Hem Raj Tated, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission Deependra Kshetri and UNDP Country Director Shoko Noda, during the ‘Knowledge Sharing Event for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Knowledge Products,’ organized by the Government [...]
The government in support with the World Conservation Union is working to formulate a gender and climate change strategy to stress the need of gender-responsive policies and strategies in combating the climate change impact. A three-day workshop titled ‘Linking gender and climate change’ is being organised from Tuesday by the Ministry of Environment (MoE) in [...]
Alertnet: When Reshma Kunda talks about the land surrounding her village, her voice is full of reverence. “Our mountains and forests are like our gods. They give us grass, wood for fuel, water, medicines and food – everything we need for our lives,” says the farmer who lives in Godavari Kunda village, about 15 km [...]
Book: This review examines the provisions in Nepal’s legal framework related to climate change and the local community’s rights. The review starts with the broader international climate change regime, the nuances of the international climate justice, and key aspects of international climate policy. After laying background on the concept and status of global climate change [...]
Sharing research-based knowledge and promoting innovation are unprecedentedly critical for effectiveness climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes worldwide, particularly in developing countrie. Scientists can significantly help advance policies to promote best and environmental practices in all socio-economic spheres including agriculture, livestock rearing, irrigation, water management, environmental-friendly drainage and sanitation. Such roles by scientists can boost [...]
Practical Action Handbook from Nepal: This handbook is aimed at practitioners who seek examples of how the V2R framework can be used in practice, based on examples from Nepal. It offers a step process, workbooks and tools. It includes guidance on how to include long-term trends in programming with a focus on climate change. It [...]
On January 2, 2012, local communities in the Thulokhola watershed in Nuwakot gave the SLPS project research team a heartfelt traditional welcome with garlands and red powder, as well as flowers, fruits, coconuts and water jars adorned with flowers as they proceeded up the hill. The team was first greeted by the local communities at [...]
Looking at the swirling grey waters of the Bhote Koshi River, Ratna Kaji remembers when it turned into a “monster,” leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. “It came down roaring, washed away homes and people when they were sleeping,” the 77-year-old said of the 1996 flood, caused by a massive landslide that blocked [...]
The Himalayan Stove Project is dedicated to preserving the Himalayan environment and improving the health of the people living in the trans-Himalayan region. We provide clean cookstoves to individuals and families living in the Himalayas who now cook with traditional, rudimentary cookstoves or over open fire pits inside their homes, consuming excessive amounts of precious [...]
It is official: India has the world’s most toxic air. In a study by Yale and Columbia Universities, India holds the very last rank among 132 nations in terms of air quality with regard to its effect on human health. India scored a miniscule 3.73 out of a possible 100 points in the analysis, lagging [...]
Universities and research institutions working in the mountain and hilly regions of Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, and Pakistan have agreed to work together as a network for mountain-focused teaching, research, and outreach in the Hindu Kush–Himalayan (HKH) region. The collaboration was cemented at a conference of more than two dozen university vice chancellors, deans, professors, [...]
Sudhirendar Sharma Tagged as fragile, remote and marginal, these three aspects have featured prominently in discussions and deliberations concerning development in the mountains in our part of the world. Retired but active academician N S Jodha, a former senior staff with the Kathmandu-based Integrated Center for International Mountain Development, has been credited for using these [...]
Earth Child Institute (ECI) Nepal officially inaugurated its first initiative “Global School Campaign” on Jan 21, Saturday, to inform and empower children on global environmental issues, and encourage them to adopt green, healthy and sustainable lifestyles in their schools and communities. To achieve the goal, they are envisioning to collaborate with 200 schools around the [...]
Telegraph Nepal: Though Climate Change (CC) has moved to the centre stage of public affairs, there is no effective policy of CC. Publications like “The Climate Change Risk Atlas” 2010[i] ranked Nepal as the fourth most vulnerable country in the world after Somalia, Haiti and Afghanistan. Why is this country so vulnerable to CC for [...]
Gorakhpatra: Dr Alexander Spachis was appointed as the first fully accredited European Union Ambassador to Nepal in November 2009. He joined the European Commission in 1981 and has over the years worked with various EU institutions, including the European Parliament and the Council. He has also served in the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs as [...]
IOL Scitech: There are simple, inexpensive ways to cut back on two major pollutants – soot and methane – and taking action now could slow climate change for years to come, international scientists said on Thursday. When it comes to fending off global warming, the focus often is on harmful carbon emissions from burning fossil [...]
The Nepal government will be receiving Rs 1.8 billion grant from European Union (EU) and the British government’s Department for International Development (DFID) for the implementation of the Nepal Climate Change Support Programme (NCCSP) The EU will be providing Euro 8.6 million and DFID will contribute Euro 7.9 million (total of Euro 16.5 million) to [...]
Apa Sherpa who has climbed Mount Everest a record 21 times, will trek hundreds of kilometres along some of the world’s highest mountains to highlight the impact of climate change on the Himalayas, organisers said on Monday. Apa Sherpa, 52, will be accompanied by two-time Everest climber Dawa Steven Sherpa on the gruelling 1,700km 120-day [...]
Himalayan Times: Claims glacial retreat is not happening. Ask a question about melting glaciers and pocket $500. “Glacier-hard cash in your pocket… all you have to do is attend a movie screening, ask a question and send us a video,” Steven Milloy, climate change denier wrote on the US-based website junkscience.com. After the US Department [...]
The Nation: Climate change is one thing and the lack of cooperation between affected countries quite another. Pakistan points the finger of blame at India, while others in the region are also suffering on account of no clear-cut policy on how Himalayan waters are to be shared and conserved. Accords and treaties may have been [...]
Everest Journal: Ngozumpa glacier in Nepal is melting away at a rapid pace and retreating at its edges because of global warming. The Nepalese Himalayas have been warming considerably more than the global mean temperature in recent decades. Glaciers in most of the region are showing signs of shrinking, thinning, and retreating, which is giving [...]
Himalayan Times: The Cabinet today approved the Ministry of Environment proposal to host the meeting of mountain countries in Kathmandu on April 5-6, and formed a 13-member committee under Environment Minister to make preparations for the same. Last July, the Cabinet had given the ministry a go-ahead to hold such a conference in Kathmandu on [...]
Everestindanger: UNESCO committee meets in SA Sir Edmund Hillary has joined environmental campaigners and lawyers in urging the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, who are meeting in Durban, South Africa this week (10-17 July), to place Mount Everest on the UN endangered list because of the impacts of climate change [1]. The World Heritage Convention legally [...]
IntelNews: The United States Central Intelligence Agency tried at least twice to install a nuclear-powered surveillance device atop the Indian Himalayas, in an effort to spy on China. The decision to plant the device was taken in 1964, soon after communist China detonated its first nuclear bomb. In 1965, a team of CIA operatives attempted [...]
Dawn: This month’s prospective meeting of the Abu Dhabi Dialogue Group comprising seven states sharing the rivers rising in the Greater Himalayas would be a watershed event as the group is expected to adopt a joint initiative to minimise the impact of glacial melt. The group comprises Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal. [...]
Nepali Times: Since 2007, Jean Marc Hero has been bringing students from Griffith University in Australia to Nepal to take part in expeditions that focus on learning about environmental research and teaching methods. The Program for Planned Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research (PPBio) aims to establish an international monitoring system that measures biodiversity and the long [...]
The Dawn: The Abu Dhabi Dialogue Group comprising seven states sharing the rivers rising in the Greater Himalayas is expected to meet early next month to adopt a joint initiative to minimise the impact of melting of glaciers. The group comprising Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal was set up in 2006 in [...]
It is a pleasure to be asked to give my personal opinion at the end of my assignment with ICIMOD. I take this opportunity to make some personal remarks. I want to highlight the importance of the framework conditions for mountains during the past five years – first in general, then for ICIMOD, and finally [...]
BBC: Ngozumpa Glacier in Nepal snakes away from the sixth highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyo. It’s not the greatest glacier to look at – far from it. It’s smothered in a layer of rocky debris that’s fallen from the surrounding cliffs, giving it a very grey, dirty appearance. But Ngozumpa is generating a [...]
Telegraph Nepal: Combating global warming and achieving UN’s 2 degree Celsius goal by 2020 require collective political action of the rich and the poor nations. Without this, small, island and least developed countries like Nepal would remain vulnerable to climate changes causing droughts, floods, rise of sea level causing coastal tragedies, fast melting Himalayan ice, [...]
BioOne: Despite the growing number of studies and research projects on climate change adaptation, only a few have examined the gender and cultural dynamics of the adaptation process. Inequality has been identified as a major indicator of the vulnerability of individuals and groups; nevertheless, the gender and cultural aspects of inequality have not received much [...]
Hindustan Times: Nepal is known for its beautiful and challenging treks like the one to the Everest Base Camp and attracts thousands of adventure seekers from across the globe every year. But a new one hopes to test both skill and endurance limits of even the most diehard trekkers. Nepal’s prominent mountaineers will embark on [...]
Book: Because of the importance of mountains and the many services they provide, sustainable mountain development does not only regard mountain communities, but is a global concern.. Climate change, increasing natural disasters, food and energy crises, population growth, water scarcity and desertification, loss of biodiversity, degradation of ecosystems, migration, and growth of cities – the [...]
Nepal Mountain News: Despite its relatively small size, Nepal is so strategically located on the boundary between Asia’s two eco-biological domains that nearly one in every ten bird species in the world is found here. Altitude variation in the Himalaya and its climate diversity means that the country has 867 species of birds: more than [...]
The Himalayan Times: The Ministry of Environment is preparing to organise a meeting of mountain countries — that has been postponed twice — to discuss climate change in mountainous areas in March. “We are working hard to organise the climate change meeting in March,” said Environment Secretary Krishna Gyawali. At the high-level meeting held in [...]
Nepal News: Within a decade, air pollution has grown at an alarming rate in the Kathmandu Valley. The capital has turned into as one of the dirtiest cities in the world. Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, is located at an elevation of approximately 1,400 meters in the bowl-shaped basin. Known for its exquisite environment [...]
Daily Times: Millions of people are affected in the Himalayan Indian-Tibetan border country because of reduced rainfall and crops. Combining surface and satellite data, and high resolution computer climate models, it is clear that these trends will become progressively more serious The main aim of the UN Climate Summit at Durban, which concluded unsuccessfully, was [...]
WWF: As part of WWF’s Living Himalayas Initiative, it has recently played a leading role in securing an agreement between India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh to combat the impacts of climate change in the region. This is the first time the four countries have agreed this kind of action. And, says WWF’s Dr Liisa Rohweder, [...]
Planning and costing agriculture’s adaptation in Nepal: Integrated maize-based farming systems in the mid hills (mixed cropping) Summary of country findings: Nepal This study is one of 5 country studies (Bangladesh, Malawi, Nepal, Rwanda and Tanzania) exploring planning and costing agriculture’s adaptation to climate change. The agricultural system described as an integrated, maize-based system in [...]
Bhutan Times: The formation of a group of mountain countries, as proposed by Ecuador, would have helped the group easily represent a common interest at the negotiation of the Convention of Parties (CoP) 17 meeting at Durban, South Africa, but it has left numerous such countries in a lurch following back off by some member [...]
CBS News: A half-century record of history has melted away from the Naimona’nyi glacier in southwestern Tibet, highlighting the changes coming to glaciers across the Himalayas. Ice cores from glaciers capture a detailed history of the atmosphere and climate from the time when the snow and ice fell. They record dust, ash and even minute [...]
Nepal News: The mountains are the heads of Nepal and heritage of Nepal as well as the world. Climate change and temperature rise have been gradually stripping the mountains off their white clothes. The untouched virgin layers of snow are gradually melting. Loss of this virginity is the ample evident of imminent impacts of climate [...]
K N Vajpai: This UN conference on climate change (COP) remained a place where the people from around the world discuss, debate and come to a conclusion on various confronting issues our communities face around the world on climate change. In this note I am trying to discuss three important aspects of this conference on [...]
Himalayan Times: In the main plenary meet of the UN climate talks in Durban, South Africa, Nepal has urged countries to let go of narrow short term interests to work towards a broader vision to save the planet from the perils of climate change by agreeing on second period commitments of the Kyoto Protocol. Nepal’s [...]
Durban Post by Dr.C. S. Silori*: This note is on the major happening during COP 17 at Durban in South Africa during UN Climate Change Conference on December 4-5, and how the ‘equity’ issues has emerged as major challenge for the world leaders in context to future development and climate change. December 4, Sunday, was [...]
UNEP: Investment in Green Technologies Can Improve Women’s Climate Adaptation Capacity & Livelihood Opportunities. There is increase in Human Trafficking Associated with Climate-related Disasters. Women, particularly those living in mountain regions in developing countries, are facing disproportionately high risks to their livelihoods and health from climate change, as well as associated risks such as human [...]
Durban Post by Dr. C. S. Silori direct from United Nations Climate Change Conference at Durban 2011. “We don’t’ understand the message God has sent us…..”, this is how the mountain communities of Peru react to the recent signs of climate change they observe in their day to day life. There is enough to indicate [...]
Soham Baba, leader of the Soham Baba Mission Foundation, says more efforts are needed to preserve nature than to destroy it. Speaking at the Inkosi Luthuli International Convention Centre, he stressed that climate change effects have drastically changed the livelihoods of the Himalayas. He vows to continue fighting on behalf of the indigenous people, saying [...]
Good Environment: This graph from the Energy Information Administration communicates the reality of renewable energy in America better than any other single source. Renewable energy covers only a small slice, 8 percent, of the country’s needs. And despite the focus on biofuels and solar power, the chart shows that more than a third of that slice [...]
Durban Post: Dr. C. S. Silori* writing from Durban on Day-II & III, 29-30 November 2011 I had promised to come back, and here I am again with a short report of what happened on day 3 of the ongoing conference of the parties (COP 17) in Durban. It was a hectic day, as I [...]
National Geographic: Google Earth Shows How Dams Could Worsen Climate Change. A project of two NGOs highlights far-ranging effects of damming rivers which is a new interactive Google Earth video tour aims to teach people how damming rivers around the world can exacerbate climate change. The video, created by the nonprofit conservation groups International Rivers [...]
K N Vajpai: Writes on the expected outcomes from Durban Climate Change Conference (CoP 17)in terms of growing momentum of action and alarm bells from new researches. His discourse is about the meager role played by the leaders from most vulnerable regions like Himalayas and Andes during this important global conference. With the representation [...]
The New York Times: With its massive chalk-white face of ice and snow, Thorthormi glacier in northern Bhutan looms high against a bright blue sky, nearly 4,450 meters above sea level. At the glacier’s base, a wide lake of murky water completes the dramatic scene at the rooftop of the world. But the beauty of [...]
Mountain Day On 4 Dec 2011, By ICIMOD, Nepal Mountain Day will assemble a high-level panel of global personalities, ministers, and scientists to advocate the value and critical role of mountains and share scientific evidence and examples of challenges and opportunities. The day-long programme will also include plenary presentations and discussions, working groups, and panel [...]
Guardian: Fears rise of huge outburst flooding in the Himalayas as glaciers melt due to climate change. It’s strangely calming to watch the Imja glacier lake grow, as chunks of ice part from black cliffs and fall into the grey-green lake below. But the lake is a high-altitude disaster in the making – one of [...]
Science 2.0: Although the fundamental tenets of many religions may have some bearing on conservation activities, the relationship between spiritualism and environmentalism is perhaps most obvious in the case of Buddhism. The close ties between Buddhism and conservation-mindedness were recently described by His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje, in an essay published [...]
