The impacts of climate change go beyond spatial and temporal boundaries. Despite being a minimal contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Nepal has been ranked one of the most vulnerable countries facing climate change repercussions. The Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index, which measures a country’s current vulnerability to climate disruptions and assesses its readiness to improve resilience, ranked Nepal in the 125th position among 192 countries in 2021. Research revealed that the fragile and rugged topographic situation and ineffective response mechanisms and strategies for dealing with natural hazards aggravated Nepal’s vulnerability. The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology also reports that the temperature in Nepal has increased by 0.056 degrees Celsius annually on average, with the highest rate occurring at higher altitudes in the Himalayan regions. Similarly, the precipitation pattern is unusual, especially in the higher mountains.

Soil erosion, landslides, flash floods and droughts have all been reported nationwide, wreaking havoc on lives and livelihoods across the country. Studies show that over 80 percent of property losses stem from disasters, predominantly triggered by climate-related hazards. Water-related incidents like floods, landslides and glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) displace communities and demolish residences, agricultural land and essential infrastructure. According to the Nepal Vulnerability and Risk Assessment 2021, climate-induced disasters take a toll on over 647 lives and cost the country an annual economic loss of over Rs2,778 million.

National commitments

The Government of Nepal has ratified several international commitments to cope with these challenges. The National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA) was introduced in 2010. Realising the importance of local intervention, the Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPAs) were developed across several local units to aid local governments and communities in building resilience to the impacts of climate change. The LAPAs were developed in regions and communities vulnerable to flooding, droughts or extreme weather events.

Following the federal structure, the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) 2019, the Environment Protection Act (EPA) 2019 and the Environment Protection Regulation (EPR) 2020 were formulated, repealing the Climate Change Policy 2011, EPA 1997 and EPR 1998, respectively. The National Climate Change Policy has been considered a milestone document in realising climate action in Nepal. Besides, climate action has been implemented at the provincial and local levels. Likewise, a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) has been prepared in response to the NCCP in alignment with the Nationally Determined Contributions.

Role of local government

The Local Government Operations Act 2017 has authorised local governments to work on disaster management, agriculture and food security, small hydropower and renewable energy, watershed management and wildlife and biodiversity conservation. These sectors are pillars of climate adaptation and mitigation. Hence, local governments play a crucial role in minimising vulnerability and building community resilience, contributing to attaining climate targets.

Despite the policy interventions and achievements, local readiness remains to be improved. We cannot deny that climate-induced impacts exist at the local level, and thus, intervention is also required. However, in our case, the federal structure has sidelined local climate change issues in development planning. The major problem lies with the institutional arrangement.

The Ministry of Forests and Environment is the focal ministry for climate change, but several gaps remain at the provincial and local levels. Though different committees and sections have been assigned to carry out climate action, the question arises regarding the placement of competent and qualified human resources at the local level. The formality of establishing climate units without resources and know-how doesn’t do much. Owing to this situation, translating national policies into local-level planning has failed, and thus, mainstreaming climate change issues into the overall development process has become a daunting task. Unsustainable financial mobilisation, limited research and development, insufficient data assortment and a lack of coordination mechanisms among different levels of government, institutions and stakeholders are a few examples.

The gap in integrating the bottom-up approach has failed to resolve climate issues at the local level. The NAP is considered a significant intervention to introduce climate action at the local level, but the financing mechanism dilemma has cast doubt on implementing the proposed climate adaptation actions. The estimated cost of Nepal’s NAP to implement priority programmes until 2050 is $47.4 billion. On the contrary, Nepal’s contribution capacity is only $1.5 billion until the timeframe. This clearly shows our reliance on external funding and support to implement the programmes under the NAP. The dependency creates uncertainty and reduces our adaptive capacity to execute priority adaptation actions at the local level.

The consequences of climate change vary geographically. While our higher mountain region faces irregular precipitation and GLOFs, the mid-hill region is severely affected by the consequences of landslides and soil erosion, and people residing in the low-land areas are victims of floods. The intensity, severity and duration of the impacts in each local unit are different, and concurrently, the resilience of each community at the local level also varies. Hence, a single blanket approach does not work when it comes to localising climate actions.

A tailored and multi-faceted approach that empowers communities, enhances institutional capabilities, fosters collaboration and mobilises resources at the grassroots level is required. This can be done by building awareness and communicating the understanding of climate change impacts and adaptation/mitigation measures among local stakeholders, including community leaders, government officials, civil society and the public. The local communities can also be empowered to take collective action, leverage local resources and integrate traditional knowledge and practices into climate adaptation and mitigation strategies.

There is a need to strengthen the institutional capacity of local units for effective climate governance and implementing climate action plans. Recruiting qualified and competent human resources and enhancing their technical expertise and skills within the local level government is paramount to localising climate actions in Nepal. Moreover, fostering partnerships and collaboration between government and national agencies, academia, private sector and non-government organisations is crucial for leveraging expertise and resources and exchanging best practices in climate change adaptation and mitigation. By strengthening the institutional foundations for climate action, local units can enhance their effectiveness, accountability and resilience in responding to climate change challenges and promoting sustainable development outcomes for local communities.

The first step towards localising climate action is ensuring the inclusion and engagement of local government and non-state stakeholders at the local level during the preparation and amendment of climate change policies. Maintaining policy coherence at the national and subnational levels is also crucial. During the implementation of climate change policies, strategic partnerships among national and subnational governments through co-development of the implementation and investment plan, capacity building and access to fiscal transfers and funds are essential.