How are you, Nepal?

Host to the ceiling of the world and Third Pole, landlocked and land-dependent for food and development, with great potential for hydropower. This Himalayan homeland bears a significant brunt of human-induced climate change.

Gokyo with Ngozumpa glacier and lakes, Makalu on the left

People are walking across a pedestrian crossing in a monsoon-affected area in Kathmandu

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Nepal is expected to warm faster than the global average and requires urgent attention to address its overall climate change impacts.

A diverse topography, from the world’s highest summit in the Himalayas to Terai and low-lying valleys with snaking rivers, defines Nepal’s climatic variability.

Home to nearly 0.3% of the world’s population, the country is prone to various climate risks like rainfall variability, increasing temperatures, and droughts.

The number of people annually affected by river flooding could more than double by 2030 and the economic impact could triple in Nepal due to climate change. This equates to an increase in the annually affected population by 199,000 people, and an annual impact on GDP by US $574 million.

An additional 8,000–43,000 people will be affected by extreme flood events in by 2035–2044 as a result of climate change.

What do the experts say?

https://youtu.be/bkZWb4i23mY

According to the Global Climate Risk Index, 2021, Nepal ranks amongst the top 10 most affected countries in long-term climate risks from 2000 to 2019 in terms of fatalities and mortalities.

Water-related hazards lead to a loss of 1.5 % of the GDP per year. Climate change events also impact the agriculture sector, which employs two-thirds of the population and accounts for 33% of Nepal’s GDP.

Nepal accounts for an estimated 2.27% of the total world water supply, and together, its river systems supply fresh water to a large portion of the 500 million people who live in the transboundary Ganges river basin.

Globally, Nepal accounts for 0.4 per capita CO2 emissions. Mostly huge carbon emissions result from agricultural practices, energy, land-use change, and industrial processes.

Nepal is committed to fulfilling the NDC objectives to adopting a low-carbon development pathway. The country has also formulated a Climate Change Policy to improve livelihoods by mitigating and adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change.

Is this information sufficient?

Yes

No

What do you need to know about Nepal?

Bypass all the climate clutter and avoid tedious, lengthy web searches by taking note of the following short and important climate change figures for Nepal: