KATHMANDU, FEB 02 - The government on Monday said that it will join the Copenhagen Accord on climate change and was submitting its existing conditions to continue with the international agreement on Kyoto Protocol under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

However, Nepal has reservations on the average global temperature rise limits. Thakur Prasad Sharma, Minister for Environment, said that Nepal has “strongly” put forward the need to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The global agreement reached at the Copenhagen Conference on climate change set a limit on average temperature rise to not more than 2 degrees Celsius.

“Climate change is causing serious impact on our glaciers. Limiting average global temperature rise to not more than 2 degrees Celsius will have adverse impacts on our livelihoods,” he said. “The adaptation programmes will suffer a big blow if the world agrees to limit global temperature rise at that level.” 

The Ministry of Environment said despite the reservations on temperature rise and strong objections on some issues listed in the 12-point Copenhagen Accord, the government has decided to send the documents for endorsement to the UNFCCC secretariat.

Sharma said the government has also included the need for developed countries to help developing countries like Nepal in green technology transfers and finance mechanisms to help them adapt to adverse impacts of climate change.

The 1993 Kyoto Protocol under the UNFCCC contains the legally-binding emission targets for the Annex I (developed) countries by requiring them to reduce their greenhouse gases from the 1990 levels by an average of five percent over the period 2008-2012.

The Copenhagen Accord is a document that the delegates decided to ‘take note of’ at the 15th Conference of Parties from Dec. 7 to Dec.18 and calls upon signatory governments to submit emissions reduction targets by Jan. 31 to its secretariat.

Posted on: 2010-02-02 09:44

Post Your Comment

Please note that all the fields marked * are mandatory.
* Full Name
* Address
* Email Address
* Comment
* Captcha	Get another CAPTCHA code
Note:	Comments containing abusive words or slander shall not be published.