The UK and Nepal have enjoyed a longstanding and deep relationship for over 200 years. I look forward to experiencing Nepal’s rich and vibrant culture in person soon, but I am excited to have visited virtually for the first time this week. During this virtual visit, I have had productive and insightful conversations with Shakti Basnet, Minister of Forest and Environment, and development partners from the World Bank and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, about how we can work together to build back better from Covid-19, creating cleaner, more inclusive and resilient economies for everyone.

Like the rest of the world, Nepal has suffered from the impacts of Covid-19 and my sympathies are with all of those who have lost loved ones in recent months. The tragic and widespread impacts are unprecedented and clearly show the urgent and linked challenges of protecting our environment, preventing biodiversity loss and promoting public health.

I saw this for myself whilst visiting Karnali Province to see how UK support has helped poor communities cope with climate change. More intense rainfall is triggering floods and devastating landslides, as we have already seen this monsoon season in Jajarkot district, where over 15,000 families have been affected, including 141 deaths and 35,000 displaced people. As we plan our national recoveries from coronavirus, it is essential that we consider how we can build back better to also address other challenges that could threaten our way of life in the coming years.

However, we have a unique opportunity to build a greener, more inclusive and more resilient economy for all, to safeguard the environment for future generations and break away from the carbon-intensive, natural resource depleting growth paths of the 20th century. The UK is leading by example, building on its world-class climate legislation and transitioning to a low carbon economy, with a commitment to net zero emissions by 2050.

This includes investing up to £3 billion on emissions reduction programmes to improve household energy efficiency, phasing out petrol and diesel car sales by 2035 and spending £350 million on new technologies and industrial emissions reductions.

It is critical that in addition to investment at home, we are supporting countries overseas. Last year the UK committed to double its climate finance, committing £11.6 billion to back climate action across the globe. Holding the presidency of COP26, we are calling on other countries to do the same to drive a green recovery for all.

Nepal’s unique and diverse natural resources create a diverse set of opportunities for green recovery. Sustainable tourism based on its iconic landscapes and cultural heritage has the potential to create almost 900,000 new jobs.

Nature-based solutions, to restore, protect and enhance nature, can provide around a third of the cost-effective mitigation needed by 2030 to stabilise temperatures, as well as providing vital livelihoods. In Nepal, investment in forest-based enterprises could create employment for up to 4.8 million people.

The construction and maintenance of sustainable infrastructure could generate up to 200,000 short-term jobs through schemes like the Prime Minister’s Employment Programme. These can include resilience investments such as slope stabilisation, bioengineering, and river training which can prevent $4-7 in losses for every dollar invested.

Clean energy development is another area of vital importance. The global transition to clean power needs to progress four times faster than at present if we are to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. In Nepal, transitioning to clean energy could create over 100,000 jobs and generate revenues in billions per year from the power sector. There is untapped potential for urban municipalities to create jobs in green public transport, urban water and solid waste management, and cities can incentivise cleaner industrial investment—as has already been successful in the brick-kiln sector in Nepal.

Improving access to new technologies will also support Nepal to cope with Covid-19 and promote a green recovery by cutting transaction costs and improving access to green services, markets and information. This will build Nepal’s resilience to climate shocks—for example, access to weather data and satellite landslide assessments—and help communities prepare, react and adapt to incoming shocks.

The UK is already working with Nepal in many of these areas, with up to £45.8 million of UK support for coronavirus relief and over £300 million of the country’s climate funding already committed to Nepal. This includes work to develop hydro and solar power, funding of Nepal’s world-famous Local Adaptation Plans for Action to reduce disaster risks and increase response capacity.

A green recovery needs input from all sectors of society, development agencies, civil society and the government, and the UK is committed to working with all countries to inspire and implement action ahead of the COP26. It has been fascinating and inspiring to see what Nepal has already done and I look forward to returning for the Sagarmatha Dialogue next year to see what other exciting progress has been made.