Nepal’s Climate Negotiation Strategy Post COP 21/Paris Agreement

Abstract

Climate change is an urgent global issue with long-term implications for the sustainable development of all countries. Realizing the immediate impacts and long- term implications, countries are now integrating climate change in their development policies. The multilateral process on climate change evolved in 1992 with the adoption of United Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), later with Kyoto Protocol and the subsequent Paris Agreement. Countries meet throughout the year and at the Conference of Parties (COP) to take stock on progress of these multilateral agreements. However, as of now a very little progress has been made in terms of achieving the objectives of these agreements. As climate change has intensified and the consequences have worsened over the years, Nepal is also experiencing similar consequences. Nepal contributes negligible amount of greenhouse gases compared to the global emissions. Yet the consequences that Nepal faces are far worse. The impacts ranges across the geographic locations, such as melting of glaciers, intensified rainfall, droughts, floods, landslides, to name a few. This study explores the strategy adopted by Nepal in climate change negotiations while participating at COP 21 to COP 25, focusing on impact of climate change at the social, economic and environmental levels. The findings conclude that the major reasons for limited progress in these meetings are power dynamics between countries, complex geopolitical environment, inadequate economic policies, limited institutional and technical capacity, high vulnerability against natural disasters and climate change yet lack of prioritization. Key Words: Conference of Parties, Climate Change, Negotiations, Strategies, Emissions