Climate Adaptation Conference concludes, issuing five-point declaration

Mahottari- The Sixth National Conference on Climate Adaptation Based on Local Leadership concluded by issuing a five-point Declaration and nine-point Appeal. The conference was held in Bardibas of Mahottari district and it concluded on Tuesday.

The day-long conference has advocated for climate justice focused on equitable policy and action based on the rights and needs of the communities vulnerable to the global climate change crisis. The Declaration expresses concern over the growing risk of climate change impact in all parts of the country.

The conference has stressed on prioritizing the climate adaptation programmes in order to meet the goal of reduction in carbon emission. Concluding that the efforts to protect the lives and livelihood of the most vulnerable populations and communities due to the adverse effects of climate change so far have been inadequate, the Conference called for special initiatives from the State agencies towards this end.

Likewise, the Conference concluded that the ongoing efforts and dialogue on adaptation under the UNFCCC would be important. Chief Minister of Madhes Province, Satish Kumar Singh, had inaugurated the Conference on Tuesday. It brought together the farmers’ groups practicing climate adaptation, the social organisations working in this sector and the local level people’s representatives.

Chief Minister Singh on the occasion underscored on linking the climate adaptation practices with the lifestyle. The Conference also issued a nine-point Appeal, urging all sides to adopt climate adaptation practices based on human-centric and climate justice principles for expansion of the climate adaptation programme in the country. The Appeal calls for resolving the challenges related to poverty and inequality amidst the climate crisis, intervening through the climate adaptation programme. It draws the attention of the sides concerned to formulate the related policy by focusing on the people at the grassroots level.

The Conference participants pointed out to the need of a roadmap with a clear outline of Chure conservation for the effectiveness of the climate adaptation programme. The Conference saw extensive deliberations on separate working papers related to the effectiveness of the adaptation activities for addressing poverty and inequalities linked with climate adaptation, to building a policy environment for promoting the adaptation activities and to linkages of the local adaptation activities with the global goals.

Researchers and experts Jagadish Bhatta, Suman Chapagain and Sohan Lal Shrestha presented working papers in the Conference session. Ajaya Dixit and Prabin Man Singh among the experts commented on the papers and gave their inputs. Sunita Singh Budhathoki, Deputy Mayor of Mithila Municipality in Dhanusha, said the Conference has been ‘very useful’ in understanding about the climate change impacts and the adaptation initiatives so far.

The Conference was jointly organized by 14 social organizations with long experience working in climate adaptation practices and environment conservation.