NEPAL TO TOE DEVELOPING NATION LINE IN COPENHAGEN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 001142

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV EAID TBIO PGOV NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL TO TOE DEVELOPING NATION LINE IN COPENHAGEN

REF: KATHMANDU 1104


1. (U) SUMMARY: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal departed
for Copenhagen on December 14 to attend the U.N. Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) summit, at which he is
expected to join his counterpoints from other developing
nations in demanding that developed nations do more address
global warming. The demands will likely include requiring
developed nations to contribute at least 1.5 percent of their
gross domestic product to a fund that would assist developing
nations to adapt to climate change. The UNFCCC conference is
the first international meeting the Prime Minister has
attended since Nepal became chair of the Lesser Developed
Countries (LDC) Group. END SUMMARY.

Nepal Vocal About Its Demands
--------------

2. (U) The Government of Nepal's stance at the UNFCCC
conference will be very much in line with the G-77 developing
countries' position on climate change, support for which the
GON lobbied strongly, and largely successfully, during the
Kathmandu to Copenhagen Conference it hosted in September.
It is highly unlikely Nepal will deviate from the points it
and eight other South Asian nations agreed to at that
meeting. These include requiring developed nations to
contribute at least 1.5 percent of their gross domestic
product to a fund that would assist Nepal and other
developing nations to adapt to climate change. Nepal is also
expected to support the call for developed nations to meet
strict green house gas (GHG) emission targets -- a 45-percent
reduction by 2020 and an 85-percent reduction by 2050.


3. (U) In addition to financial help, Nepal will ask
developed nations for the technical support needed to
implement its National Adaptation Program of Action. Nepali
officials have been very vocal, regionally and
internationally, in their demand that the developed world
provide both the finance and technology needed for
adaptation, stressing that Nepal is one of the most
vulnerable countries to the adverse impact of climate change.


4. (U) Modification of the UN Collaborative Program on
Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation
in Developing Countries (REDD) is another top agenda item for
Nepal and one where its stance is generally aligned with the
U.S. position. Nepal will, among other things, seek to have
the program revised to include sustainable forest development
as a key component. It will also insist that developing
countries be given expanded credit for their forest
protection efforts.


5. (U) As a strong supporter of the Clean Development
Mechanism, the GON is likely to demand that it be further
streamlined so that Nepal and other developing countries can
derive more benefits. It is also expected to use the
Copenhagen conference to request more assistance to develop
its largely untapped hydropower potential, an estimated
45,000 megawatts of which is considered economically feasible.


6. (U) To underscore their call for urgent international
cooperation and assistance to address the adverse affects of
climate change on the Himalayas, Prime Minister Nepal and his
Cabinet held a meeting at the base of Mount Everest on
December 4. (Note. The Everest Declaration adopted at the
meeting is below. End note.) Nepali officials are hopeful
that they can use the country's role as chair of the
50-member LDC Group to garner sufficient support in
Copenhagen to ensure that the meeting does not become a mere
publicity stunt.

Small Nation, Large Delegation
--------------

7. (U) Prime Minister Nepal is heading an 80-member official
delegation, which critics note is larger than the delegations
sent by neighboring India and China. The strongest criticism
has come from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose head,
Deputy Prime Minister Sujata Koirala, withdrew from the
delegation, which was funded by international development and
non-governmental organizations. Nepal has been allocated
just six official seats at the UNFCCC summit.

Team Nepal
--------------

8. (SBU) In addition to the Prime Minister, the delegation
includes three of his top advisors, seven ministers,

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Constituent Assembly members, senior government bureaucrats,
and others. Below is the biodata of the principal members:

(a) Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal: Prime Minister since
May 2009, Nepal heads a shaky 21-party coalition government.
(The country's largest party, the United Communist Party of
Nepal-Maoist, remains outside the governing coalition.) PM
Nepal faces many significant challenges, most notably
concluding the peace process and finalizing the new
constitution by May 2010. Although the PM has made climate
change one of his signature issues, he is not familiar with
the details of the issue. The PM, who speaks excellent
English, met President Obama in September at the
U.S.-sponsored event with UN troop contributing countries on
the margins of UNGA.

(b) Thakur Sharma, Minister of Environment: The Ministry of
Environment is the focal ministry for UNFCCC and entrusted to
negotiate on behalf of the GON. Sharma, who represents a
fringe party in the current coalition government, has so far
had a lackluster tenure as head of the Ministry. Although
helpful and supportive in hosting events and meetings to
highlight the impact of climate change in Nepal, he has not
actively promoted substantial programs to address the
problem. He is soft spoken with limited English.

(c) Deepak Bohra, Minister of Forest and Soil Conservation:
Bohra, chief architect of the Cabinet meeting at the foot of
Everest, is perhaps the most dynamic high-level official in
the delegation. He has been very vocal and active pushing
wildlife conservation and climate change to the top of
national, regional and global agendas. Even though the
Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation is not the GON's
official negotiator, Bohra, who chairs the country's National
Trust for Nature Conservation. could be a good contact on
issues related to glacial melt, forests and mountains. He
speaks English well.

(d) Udaya Raj Sharma, Secretary, Ministry of Environment:
Sharma, who is U.S. educated, is the most senior career
bureaucrat in the delegation and has a strong technical
background on forest and environmental issues. Recently
transferred to the Environment Ministry from the Forest
Ministry because of differences of opinion with the Minister
-- a common practice in Nepal -- Sharma is expected to retire
soon from government service. He speaks excellent English.

(e) Purushottam Ghimire, Joint Secretary, Ministry of
Environment: For the past few years, Ghimire has been the
lead Ministry bureaucrat in UNFCCC negotiations, and as such
may be familiar to Washington's climate negotiating team. He
is very approachable and speaks English well.

Everest Declaration on Climate Change
--------------

9. Friday, December 4, 2009, Kalapatthar, Everest Base Camp,
5542 meters, Nepal

-- Commit to work in cooperation with South Asian nations and
the rest of the world to protect the vulnerable Himalayan and
mountain ecosystem to climate change and to draw the
attention of the global community.

-- Launch a public awareness campaign in both the local and
national level by conducting studies on the unprecedented
effects of climate change on the Himalayan Range and on the
local habitants and life styles of especially the poor, the
marginalized, indigenous groups, Dalits, women and children,
and the steps that can be taken to minimize them.

-- Timely address the adverse effects of climate change and
to develop emergency alert systems, various climate change
models, and capacity-building solutions, to raise timely
resilience in agriculture and other areas.

-- Expand the existing mountain ecosystem conservation area
from 20 percent to 25 percent and consolidate 40 percent
forest area. Declare Gauri Shankar and Api-Nampa
conservation areas as a show of our commitment.

-- Seek support from the global community to effectively
implement a work plan appropriate for Nepal that addresses
the effects of climate change on Nepal's socio-economic area,
especially water resources, agriculture, bio-diversity,
forests, human life, and human health. And to support the

KATHMANDU 00001142 003 OF 003


developed countries' plans to contribute 1.5 percent of GDP
to a climate change adaptation fund.

-- Draw the attention of developed nations and neighboring
countries by letting them know that Nepal can make itself the
least carbon-emitting country in the region by developing its
clean energy sector and urge them to contribute and invest
for the development of suitable and modern technology in
Nepal.

-- In order for Nepal to benefit from the Clean Development
Mechanism's (CDM) funds, take steps to revise CDM's funding
provisions so that they are more simplified and beneficial to
poor countries.

-- In order to prevent a catastrophic climate change from
occurring as a result of human activities, call to keep the
greenhouse gases levels to below 350 PPM and not allow the
surface temperature of the Earth to rise above 1.5 degree
centigrade of the pre-industrial levels.

-- Draw attention on the fact that very few studies and
research have been done on the effect of climate change on
the melting snows and glaciers in the mountain areas.

-- Call to bring down greenhouse gases levels to minimize
their effects on the mountain and Himalayan ecosystem. And
urge nations violating greenhouse gases emission levels to
pay fine and that fine be used in providing compensation and
relief to poor countries and people adversely affected by it.
BERRY