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FROM
KATHMANDU TO COPENHAGEN
A
Vision for Addressing Climate Change Risks and
Vulnerabilities in the Himalayas
A Regional Climate Change Conference
31 August - 1 September 2009
Kathmandu, Nepal
The
Government of Nepal hosted the South Asia
Regional Climate Change Conference: “From
Kathmandu to Copenhagen: A Vision for Addressing
Climate Change Risks and Opportunities in the
Himalaya Region” on August 31 – September 1,
2009. The Right Honorable Prime Minister of
Nepal, Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal, inaugurated the
conference. The conference was attended by
Ministers, members of the parliament and the
Constituent Assembly and high level government
representatives from seven countries of the
South Asia region namely Afghanistan,
Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and
Sri Lanka and representative of Kyrgyz Republic.
Other participants were from academic and
research institutions, non-governmental
organizations, development partners and national
and international media.
The conference aimed at providing a forum for
the countries of the South Asia Himalayas and
other countries in the region to share knowledge
and experience about common risks that climate
change brings and the immense development
opportunities that could be fostered, and
developing a common message to the global
community regarding the climate change
challenges faced by the region.
The Kathmandu conference stressed the need to
translate the principles of common but
differentiated responsibilities and respective
capabilities and historical responsibility of
the developed countries as envisaged in the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
into operational practice. It noted that the
world had spent more on corporate/financial
bailouts than on promoting sustainability and,
least of all, on addressing climate change.
The South Asia Regional Climate Change
Conference states that:
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1. |
The South Asia including Hindu Kush-Himalayan
(HKH) region is a climate change hot
spot that influences the lives of
half of the world's population.
Climate change in this region will
affect peoples and ecosystems from
the mountains to the coast to the
sea. |
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2. |
The South Asia region is highly
vulnerable to the adverse impacts of
climate change and is characterized
by critical knowledge gaps,
especially of mountain ecosystems
within and across its constituent
units. |
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3. |
The countries of South Asia need to
accelerate sustainable social and
economic growth in accordance with
the principles and provisions of the
UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change. |
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4. |
The South Asian countries must
therefore come together to enhance
their climate change responses
including through the generation of
required data and adaptation at all
levels with incremental adaptive
steps meshing with agreed regional
and global efforts to address the
impacts of climate change. The
enhanced climate change responses
require additional financial and
technical resources. |
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5. |
Water resources are particularly
impacted by climate change and
immediate and urgent actions are
required to address these challenges
through management practices
including basin-wide approaches at
appropriate level, and provisions of
additional financial and technical
resources in accordance with the
provisions of the UNFCCC. |
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6. |
The inhabitants of the South Asian
region are among those likely to be
worst affected by climate change.
Special strategies need to be
evolved and additional resources
provided to address the specific
vulnerable communities of the
region. |
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7. |
The countries of South Asia need to
address the challenges of climate
change through collaborative actions
aimed at enhancing capacity building
including activities regarding data
collection and sharing and research
about climate change impact through
SAARC and other institutions as
agreed. |
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8. |
Financing mechanism on adaptation
and technologies should sufficiently
meet the urgent and immediate needs
of financial requirements of the
South Asia region in a predictable,
easy and direct manner. Finance must
come from Annex 1 Parties to the
UNFCCC. |
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9. |
Recognition and payment for credits
from the forestry sector must
include a comprehensive approach to
sustainable management and
conservation of forests, and
enhancement of forest carbon stocks. |
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10. |
Development and transfer of clean
technologies including capacity
building should take place with a
view to ensure green development.
Transfer of technologies should be
provided by Annex 1 countries to
non-Annex I countries and they
should not be constrained by the
high upfront costs of intellectual
property rights. Appropriate
indigenous technologies should also
be promoted through channeling of
funds to developing countries in
accordance with the Convention's
provisions. Both public and private
sector should be encouraged in
addressing the impacts of climate
change through provisions of clean
technologies. |
The
South Asia Regional Conference on Climate Change
appreciates the initiative of the Kyrgyz
Republic to hold the Global Ministerial
Conference of the mountain countries in 2010 to
discuss on issues of cooperation in the
post-Copenhagen period. |
