As the date for the 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-30) approaches, Nepal has intensified preparations.

COP-30 is being held in Belem, Brazil from November 10 to 21 (November 24 to November 5). The conference will focus on discussions on displacing fossil fuel consumption, enhancing forest, ocean and biodiversity conservation, transforming agriculture and food systems, human nutrition and social development, and technology, capacity building. The Brazilian government has put forward a proposal for that.

Similarly, Nepal has also started preparations to raise the issues of mountain conservation and the 'Esagera Call', the conclusions of the Sagarmatha Dialogue held last June, at the conference. The Ministry of Forest and Environment has started preparations for the conference by holding phased meetings with representatives of relevant government, non-government, development partners and others.

The ministry has stated that it will present its agenda for COP-30 based on the conclusions of the Sagarmatha Dialogue, a global review of the achievements of the conference, climate-related losses, adaptation, mitigation, carbon finance and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Similarly, the Ministry's Climate Change Management Division Chief and Joint Secretary Dr. Maheshwar Dhakal informed that the agenda will be based on climate finance, transparency framework on climate issues, mountains, capacity building and technology transfer, and climate justice. It is also said that the conference will highlight the issues Nepal has faced due to the effects of climate change by presenting examples of major climate-related losses and damages that Nepal has recently suffered.

In previous conferences, high-level sessions were held on the first and second days of the inauguration by inviting high-level political leadership. He said that COP-30 was organized with a high-level session three days before the conference and the political and technical sessions were separated.

Draft of National Position Paper Prepared

'We have almost completed most of the preparatory work to be done on the part of the Ministry. Due to the current situation in the country, the number of delegations going to this conference will be as small as possible,' said Division Chief and Joint Secretary Dr. Dhakal. 'The work of preparing the draft of the national position paper and taking necessary discussions and suggestions from stakeholders is in the final stage.'

According to scientific studies, the temperature of the Himalayan region is expected to be 0.3 degrees Celsius to 0.7 degrees Celsius higher than the current and future global average temperature. Due to climate change, Nepal has recently seen extensive changes in the nature, quantity and timing of monsoon rains. Due to climate-related disasters and calamities arising from such changes, Nepal is facing major climate-related losses.

In such a situation, Deepak KC, an analyst at the Climate Change and Resilience Project of the United Nations Development Program Nepal, suggests that Nepal should give more emphasis to the issue of climate-related losses at COP-30. He said, 'Eight billion US dollars are required for compensation for losses, but only eight hundred million dollars have been committed to the compensation fund, and out of that, four hundred million dollars are available for spending.'

Therefore, he said, countries like Nepal, which bear the most weather and climate-related losses, should work together to increase global pressure for compensation for losses. 'In addition, countries like Nepal should also prepare for policy reforms, technological capacity building, etc.,' said analyst KC.