When 14-year-old Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk knocked on the door of a stranger to ask if they had a copy of the 1995 comedy Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, he had no idea the person on the other side would make him a film star. That was in 1996, and the Bhutanese teenager was in Hong Kong on vacation. Little did he know that the person on whose door he knocked was a casting agent. The rest is geography.&nbsp; Within months, Wangchuk and his younger brother were on set shooting Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt. Chaperoned by their mother, both boys played the Dalai Lama in the movie.&nbsp; “I was honoured to get the chance,” says Wangchuk, now 41. That chance meeting eventually got Wangchuk into filmmaking in the US.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023060209068_3cda25464ba95e1997eca79d2fd72c689af9fe824c05a4d80fe74e355f30786c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2023060209068_3cda25464ba95e1997eca79d2fd72c689af9fe824c05a4d80fe74e355f30786c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2250" height="3275" loading="lazy" alt="Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk with Brad Pitt"> <figcaption>Young Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk with Brad Pitt. The two actors worked together for Jean-Jacques Annaud’s 1997 film Seven Years in Tibet.</figcaption> </figure>  In 2020 during the pandemic &nbsp;Wangchuk was cooped up in a studio apartment in New York. The isolation, and a bout of Covid infection, made him reevaluate his career and place in life. He decided to cycle from Thimphu to COP28 in Dubai to draw attention to the climate crisis and how it was affecting Himalayan people. “I feel fortunate to be able to combine my love for films with my passion for sports and travel, all the while championing the environment,” says Wangchuk, who spent his early years trekking through forests in Bhutan’s Pema Gatshel district with his father.&nbsp; In 2022, Wangchuk biked for a week, nine hours every day to reach Bhutan’s Thorthomi glacial lake, where the water level has to be drained to prevent it from bursting. He filled a bottle of water from the lake, and on 2 May began the first phase of his journey from Thimphu to India. Supported by the Kathmandu-based research institute, ICIMOD, he cycled across eastern Nepal, reaching Everest Base Camp 20 days later. There he met up with 22-time Everest summiteer Lhakpa Nuru, who had collected ice from the South Col for his mission.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023060209064_42a5130b18ca731580eedc477adaf1dea86a6b55a2de7db3c4a7fd1931bdae44.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2023060209064_42a5130b18ca731580eedc477adaf1dea86a6b55a2de7db3c4a7fd1931bdae44" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="Team NT"> <figcaption>Jamyang Jamtsho Wangchuk and team on Everest Base Camp. Photo: BEN CLARK/FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  &nbsp;The ice joined the water collected from the glacial lake in Bhutan on the journey to Dubai. The bike journey so far has been a 'warm up' in more ways than one. &nbsp;Last month several Asian cities recorded all-time high temperatures. The heat of the plains made Wangchuk dizzy, forcing him to make several unplanned stops. “We learned the hard way that riding in the heat and pollution can be detrimental to health,” he notes. To avoid this, he starts out early, and takes a break during the intense mid-day heat. &nbsp; Wangchuk will soon begin the second phase of his journey cycling across India and Pakistan. He has not yet figured out how to cross the Arabian Sea to Oman. &nbsp; “There will be more extreme heat to justify why I’m riding to COP28 to take the messages of &nbsp;Himalayan communities being unfairly impacted by climate change,” he says. &nbsp; Climate summits like the one in Dubai are notorious for being talkfests, and the 2023 event is being held in UAE, a country that is a major exporter of fossil fuel. Says Wangchuk: “COPs have failed to set a concrete and time-bound target to phase out all fossil fuels and meet the zero-emission vehicle sales targets. But this should not deter us from pressuring world leaders and corporations to be accountable.”

Shristi Karki

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Cycling to COP28

Bidhya Chapagain left a secure job in journalism in which she has already become a household name in Nepal to venture out to fulfil her passion in journalism -- to give a voice to those who have been deprived of it. She started her own video production group to go around the country to talk to people whom journalists never bothered to report about. The stories she brought out were so important in shining the light on a Nepal that was invisible to Kathmandu that it became most-seen on YouTube and other social media. “I was living my journalism dream at the BBC, but as I travelled for work and saw that we were telling the same stories of the same people, I realised that this was not my dream," said Chapagain during her conversation with Rajneesh Bahndari of Nepal Investigative Multimedia Journalism Network (NIMJN) at the HImal Media Mela 2023.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230504060520_1df44df7843f5dee5c7a3752c63e2d07a9be3e8eef0312e30f4f62e6256e44ea.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20230504060520_1df44df7843f5dee5c7a3752c63e2d07a9be3e8eef0312e30f4f62e6256e44ea" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela Day 2- Going Back to Good Storytelling"> <figcaption>Rajneesh Bahndari and Bidhya Chapagain. All photos: GOPEN RAI AND SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  So Chapagain and her colleague Kamal Kumar set out to find those extraordinary stories of ordinary people across Nepal largely ignored by mainstream media. They knew that these stories needed to be told through video since it is the medium most suited to the stories, but also because they had some expertise in it.&nbsp; Five years down the line, Herne Katha has broadcast 104 episodes and is one of the most popular and credible Nepali shows known for bringing impactful and extraordinary stories from some of the remotest parts of the country. The team was recently in Accham and locals easily recognised them as ‘Herne Katha’.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230504070524_4c8572857a8426c2661a020290285c11abfd88cabff0a69088f2f2f509422c67.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230504070524_4c8572857a8426c2661a020290285c11abfd88cabff0a69088f2f2f509422c67" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023- Going Back to Good Storytelling"> <figcaption>Bidhya Chapagain</figcaption> </figure>  “It is not as difficult to find the subject matter or stories, we have to want to find them in the first place,” said Chapagain, recounting some of the risky trips she had taken to document her characters for Herne Katha.&nbsp; But while new age digital shows like Herne Katha have the audience, sustainability continues to be a challenge. Chapagain revealed that YouTube revenue is not as significant and the team also relies on advertisement, membership and donations.&nbsp; Said Chapagain: “It has been five years but we still have not figured out a business model best suited to us. But if we want to sustain and continue telling the stories, we must figure it out.” The business side of news  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230504070528_69fc80c46460ab73c782b5f9b7c3bfa8bdbe91087f3f5b9ff26f4500c6f2e062.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230504070528_69fc80c46460ab73c782b5f9b7c3bfa8bdbe91087f3f5b9ff26f4500c6f2e062" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023- Digital Reader Revenue"> <figcaption>A panel on Digital Reader Revenue.</figcaption> </figure>  Across the world and in Nepal, eyeballs have moved online but advertisers have not. This has made the sustainability of legacy media increasingly difficult at a time when even online portals are competing with the new age mass media like TikTok, YouTube and Facebook for both audience and revenue.&nbsp; How readers consume news have also changed media’s traditional business model but the print still brings in the money, said Sambridhi Gyawali of Nepal Republic Media which publishes Nagarik Daily. “We haven’t been able to monetise digital platforms, paywalls have not worked in Nepal,” she added during the panel Digital Reader Revenue.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230504070528_4efc53201ef0de22dcac55a43124d37a9e165f07f2339a3741c7e193ee173872.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230504070528_4efc53201ef0de22dcac55a43124d37a9e165f07f2339a3741c7e193ee173872" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023- Digital Reader Revenue"> <figcaption>Sambridhi Gyawali</figcaption> </figure>  Ameet Dhakal, editor of Setopati which pioneered long-form online portal in Nepal shared the humble beginnings of the digital platform, and financial challenges they faced in the early days while also the crisis Nepali media as a whole is undergoing. “It used to be cheaper to advertise in online portals because they didn’t have high operating costs of printing but now advertisers have even cheaper platforms like Facebook and Google who don't even need to pay people in Nepal,” added Dhakal. “We are now facing the same problem that print media has been facing for a while now.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230504070528_983f3b9c42b40ff3b9b1f1630b4371ea9cd8d80f04eef172662a0b326fd41c18.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230504070528_983f3b9c42b40ff3b9b1f1630b4371ea9cd8d80f04eef172662a0b326fd41c18" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023- Digital Reader Revenue"> <figcaption>Ameet Dhakal</figcaption> </figure>  Traditional media has always relied on advertisements but it is also known to interface with editorial decision-making. Recently, there has been a new model entirely based on contributions from readers. Pranaya Rana was with an independent online portal The Record Nepal (TRN) before it closed down last year, unable to sustain itself financially. “The idea was to get the grant and eventually move on to the membership model but we failed. Maybe Nepal is not ready for it yet, the fact that we are an English publication didn’t help matters,” said Rana who now publishes Off the Record, a weekly newsletter every Friday.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230504070536_e3aadb74467fe8e5493fb0dbad39ae16df2b39767343c3665da5fcbb956acd61.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230504070536_e3aadb74467fe8e5493fb0dbad39ae16df2b39767343c3665da5fcbb956acd61" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023- Digital Reader Revenue"> <figcaption>Pranaya Rana</figcaption> </figure>  He added: “But we have realised that we need a business plan and we cannot ignore the market, we are trying to figure out how we can bring in the advertisements without compromising our journalism.” Much like the TRN, Ukaalo has joined Nepal's cybersphere as an independent digital platform that relies entirely on contributions. Said co-funder Amod Pyakuryal: “Public supported media have worked elsewhere so why not in Nepal? We have people who are well educated and informed, they can pay us for unbiased agenda setting content.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230504070536_a5be03ea31d7589d7cf026ce235c98f18fe9d47e087c956990bcb0b2e06e6f7a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20230504070536_a5be03ea31d7589d7cf026ce235c98f18fe9d47e087c956990bcb0b2e06e6f7a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023- Digital Reader Revenue"> <figcaption>Amod Pyakuryal</figcaption> </figure>  Meanwhile Gyawali noted that it might be time for an internal reflection for Nepali media and the kind of content that is being dished out. To that effect, Rana added that the media should be writing and developing content for the younger generation. “But our young generation are hooked into TikTok. First, we have to find ways to get the content they want and only then we can think about monitisation,” he added.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023050408050_8f139dd0e78ede3cbc4f0961d3e301319c6b3ff76a48e6a1c7ddff7efcbffbae.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="2023050408050_8f139dd0e78ede3cbc4f0961d3e301319c6b3ff76a48e6a1c7ddff7efcbffbae" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1400" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela- Digital Reader Revenue"> <figcaption>Madhu Acharya</figcaption> </figure>  But interestingly, while audiences are consuming content on social media and on online portals, the general public do not trust them, they still trust mainstream media over others, noted moderator Madhu Acharya of the Sharecast Initiative quoting the recent survey conducted by his organisation as he concluded the panel.&nbsp; Climate change in media&nbsp; The climate emergency is arguably the biggest crisis of our times. How the media cover it can define the actions to be taken for adaptation and mitigation, and how soon.&nbsp; “Europe realised the impacts of climate change early on and began to take action. It took 25 or so more years for the US to catch-up. This was because of the coverage in he European media,” noted Kunda Dixit, author of Dateline Earth: As If the Planet Mattered during the panel on covering the climate crisis. “European media had a more global outlook, published news from around the world, and pressured their governments.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230504090516_e393bf333d549e0027dbcf31d8db33062fc0c082343159110426d1af5d99cc0f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20230504090516_e393bf333d549e0027dbcf31d8db33062fc0c082343159110426d1af5d99cc0f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023- How the Media Can Cover the Climate Crisis"> <figcaption>Kunda Dixit</figcaption> </figure>  But for the media to inform the public and the policymakers alike they need to understand the science themselves. Also speaking at the panel, atmospheric scientist Arnico Panday said that Nepali media has been focusing on weather, not so much climate which is measured over a longer period. Panday is now a meber of the RSP, wch is the fourth largest party in Parliament. Nitu Ghale who is with the Annapurna Post shared her experience of trying to highlight stories on climate change while also tackling inherent challenges. “There is just not enough data and even when there is data, they are not managed properly. It is also not easy to get the right experts to talk to,” she added.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230504090516_5f3ce88cc495c15800896ef8b51dd82344ec0cf46fdaf4b6f72b414bdea2ede6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20230504090516_5f3ce88cc495c15800896ef8b51dd82344ec0cf46fdaf4b6f72b414bdea2ede6" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023- How the Media Can Cover the Climate Crisis"> <figcaption>Nitu Ghale</figcaption> </figure>  But either way, climate change often does not get the prominence it deserves in Nepali media, often sidelined by the political and economic issues. But panellists stressed that climate change is not an environmental issue for us but rather economic and political.&nbsp; Nepal’s import of petroleum is polluting the air and worsening public health but it is also emptying our foreign reserves. Petroleum accounts for over 20% of Nepal’s import. Switching to electric mass transit would save billions.&nbsp; “What Nepal does or does not won’t save the planet but will save our economy from collapsing and maintain our political independence by reducing our trade deficit, so they should be given the prominence they deserve in our coverage,” explained Dixit. “But having said that, climate change is becoming more of an excuse for leaders to blame their inaction and the discount governance failures and historical state neglect.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230504090516_8d4b3a774da7b2ec877f74278f6c3a256428d8acc694c3243699ebe2cee307ec.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20230504090516_8d4b3a774da7b2ec877f74278f6c3a256428d8acc694c3243699ebe2cee307ec" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023- How the Media Can Cover the Climate Crisis"> <figcaption>Panel on How the Media Can Cover the Climate Crisis.</figcaption> </figure>  But not everything is lost. China is developing itself as the centre of green energy whereas the United States under Biden has committed to convert 35% of all the automobiles into battery operated vehicles in eight years.&nbsp; Arnico Panday admitted that he entered politics after realising that science is not enough to bring urgent change to problems like air pollution and climate crisis. He asked the audience to vote for the party that actually works to resolve the climate emergency, among others, in the next election -- amidst much applause from the rapt audience.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023050409058_bfebb45fb60bbb93f1a9b833ec83e0a3f43b6a00c117b7295f7e42a4d6bc8c8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="2023050409058_bfebb45fb60bbb93f1a9b833ec83e0a3f43b6a00c117b7295f7e42a4d6bc8c8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023- How the Media Can Cover the Climate Crisis"> <figcaption>Arnico Panday</figcaption> </figure>  Nepali translation of Dixit’s Dateline Earth: As If the Planet Mattered and the third edition of the English version were launched following the panel discussion. The book has now been translated into five Asian languages.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023050410050_ce529ecb914b5e946464e039722db60313f3a13a057a93c444f1538cba80aa35.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="2023050410050_ce529ecb914b5e946464e039722db60313f3a13a057a93c444f1538cba80aa35" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1366" loading="lazy" alt="Himal Media Mela 2023-Dateline Earth Book Launch"> <figcaption>Nepali translation of Dateline Earth: As If the Planet Mattered and the third edition of the English version were launched following the panel discussion.</figcaption> </figure>

Journalism is all about storytelling (and money)

<div class="embed-block"><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150236/63fe12319c7e80680e0da50fjpeg.jpg" alt=""></div>
Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa grew up in Namche Bazar, amidst the bustle of trekkers and mountaineers en route to Mt Everest. His childhood was spent learning about the deep relationships his family had forged with the mountains.
Tenzing’s grandfather was part of the first successful expedition to Mt Everest in 1953. With views of Thamserku and Kongde peaks, Tenzing saw the importance of glacier-fed streams and the frozen parts of the planet that are essential to life.
He grew up listening to his parents and grandparents talk about how thick the glaciers used to be, how ice was melting to form lakes, and how winter snowfall had become rarer.
During his childhood, Tenzing celebrated Sherpa festivals, which reflect harmony with nature. He &nbsp;developed a healthy appreciation for his mountain environment.
When Tenzing left Namche Bazar to study environmental science at Kathmandu University in Dhulikhel, he found a way to combine his love for his home with a passion for science and glaciology.
The study of ice resonated with him. It was important, and personal, for him to methodically study how quickly the planet is warming, and what complex risks these changes present to mountain and downstream communities.
Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-citizen-scientists-track-climate-change/"> Nepal’s citizen scientists track climate change</a>, Erica Wu
Since completing his postgraduate studies, Tenzing has been part of numerous glacio-hydrological expeditions and geophysical surveys across Nepal to study how the climate crisis is affecting the Himalaya, and the impact that melting glaciers will have on 1.5 billion people living downstream from these mountains.
In 2018, Tenzing joined a team of experts on the British-led EverDrill project, which made a breakthrough by drilling 150m deep into the Khumbu Glacier. The team found that the internal temperature of the debris-covered glacier was two degrees warmer than the mean annual air temperature outside.
In other words, the Khumbu Glacier is warming up, and this change is reaching a tipping point. Once the temperature crosses zero Celsius, the glacier will melt from the inside out as well as from the outside in.
Computer simulations have shown that there will initially be an increase in the water flow of the rivers that drain the Everest region, but as the available ice begins to diminish, the water flow in the dry season will decline. Accelerated melting will also expand glacial lakes, increasing the risk of them bursting. &nbsp;
These changes in the glaciers have cascading, devastating consequences downstream, but there has been a gap between local communities and scientists when it comes to solutions and action. Tenzing believes this historic gap can be bridged by educating younger people in mountain communities.
He believes glaciers are the most visible representations of climate collapse, and adds that the incentive and motivation to act already exist.
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/living-with-climate-anxiety/">Living with climate anxiety</a>, Rastraraj Bhandari
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“We need to include local people from the initiation of any research activity, incorporate indigenous knowledge, and utilise local resources, creating a positive relationship with that community,” he stresses. “If you involve people in the research, they are more receptive to what you have to say. And they will understand you much better.”
Tenzing was recently featured in a BBC Earth video asking the ominous question: ‘What Happens if Everest Melts?’ The short film presents the alarming discovery of the Khumbu Glaciers' warming termperature from the EverDrill project and explores the inevtiable changes that will irreversibly alter the realities of Nepal’s mountain communities and ecosystems.
In the film, Tenzing speaks passionately about the gravity of these changes: ‘It is essential to keep the frozen parts of our planet healthy… because they are the water towers of the world. They feed more than a billion people downstream.’
Tenzing now works at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu, where he uses remote sensing and geo-information technology to understand the dynamics of the changing cryosphere in the Himalaya.
His work is inspired by a love for his melting home, and expertise in using rapidly improving technology to monitor the impact of climate change, so adaptation measures can be undertaken.
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/more-monstrous-monsoons/">More monstrous monsoons</a>, Nicole McCloskey
While local communities have adapted to harsh mountain environments for centuries, the climate is now changing so rapidly that traditional ways of life are under threat.
Blending science and local knowledge is an effective way to support communities in making informed decisions. It is also a way for Tenzing to give back to his people back home.&nbsp;
“Mountain communities can play a crucial role in formulating climate policies that support and fund adaption strategies,” he says.
As Tenzing looks to the future, he sees a world in which young climate scientists must constantly evolve with emerging technologies to keep pace with environmental change.
“Over the next decade, we will be talking about extremes very often – it will be too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry,” he says.
The window of opportunity to take concrete climate action is rapidly closing. Tenzing, and many other young scientists, are working to make sure their research contributes to mitigating risks in the coming decades.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-climate-activist-makes-waves/">Nepali climate activist makes wave</a>s, Shristi Karki

Climactic change

The 26thConference of Parties (COP26) held in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/good-cop-bad-cop/" target="_blank">Glasgow last year</a> created significant momentum on climate action, most notably through enhanced net-zero emission pledges, climate mitigation and adaptation finance targets, and revival of international carbon markets. Since then, there has been much talk on how international carbon markets can play a role in the broader climate policy architecture, and whether or not they can serve as an instrument to tackle the climate crisis. The global climate community remains divided on the matter. Proponents of market-based mechanisms argue that the scale of the climate action cannot be achieved without the use of carbon markets. Others argue that carbon markets simply aid to avoid the problem and help the polluters find a scapegoat to keep on polluting –– while creating “green or carbon washing”. This debate is not new and this is also not the first-time international carbon markets are at the centre of the fight against the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-climate-crisis-is-a-water-crisis-in-the-himalaya/" target="_blank">climate crisis</a>. Under the Kyoto Protocol (the Paris Agreement’s predecessor climate treaty) international emissions trading was a key feature and developing countries would participate through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) which mobilised carbon finance at scale and helped diffuse advanced low carbon technologies in developing countries, incentivising the implementation of mitigation actions and transfer of climate finance through the sale of carbon credits to developed countries. At the same time, it was controversial for human right violations, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-carbon-footprint-of-nepals-tourism/" target="_blank">quality of carbon credits being sold</a>, and the eventual crash of the market in the mid 2010s, leading to reduced faith in international carbon market mechanisms such as CDM. So why are carbon markets back at the centre of the climate discourse, and what does it mean for the battle against the climate crisis? Carbon markets remain a popular instrument both for economists who have advocated their use as a cost-effective instrument to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions as well as policymakers who remain particularly appealed by its ability to generate revenue. They are less politically challenging, for example when compared to a carbon tax, and are a flexible instrument that can be designed to suit national circumstances and priorities. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/will-nepal-ever-be-paid-for-saving-trees/" target="_blank">Will Nepal ever be paid for saving trees?</a>, Mukesh Pokhrel They can be varied in scope, design and coverage, and they also exist in different forms. A simplistic classification of carbon market types includes domestic cap-and-trade systems (commonly referred to as an emissions trading system), and baseline-and-crediting mechanisms, including international carbon markets under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and the voluntary carbon market. There is a growing momentum to utilising both types of carbon markets, with many more jurisdictions adopting emissions trading system and a growing market for both Article 6 and the voluntary carbon market. The carbon market is only going to increase as countries scramble to take advantage of instruments that can tackle the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-face-of-a-himalayan-climate-crisis/" target="_blank">climate crisis</a> without putting fiscal pressure on the economy. Another demand comes from net-zero pledges which will require carbon credits to fulfill. However, carbon markets are not a panacea, and we need to ensure they are designed in a way that benefits the people and the planet. The devil is in the details. <div class="embed-block"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100132/63bfd4529c7e80680e0d309cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="962" height="422">Source: SUSTANIZE</div> While it seems inevitable that carbon markets will scale-up, uncoordinated efforts might do more harm than good. The value chain of carbon markets comprises multiple players across a broad range of layers which makes them difficult to navigate. A focus on generating carbon credits to sell in the market without putting beneficiaries at the centre of the project design can create detrimental impact. This is a heated issue in the carbon market debate, particularly with regards to how countries and companies will account for the purchased credits. The challenges seen under the carbon markets in Kyoto Protocol, related to treatment of human rights and indigenous communities, will need to be addressed. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/turning-green-policies-into-greenbacks/" target="_blank">Turning green policies into greenbacks</a>, Rastraraj Bhandari A major controversy that has emerged concerns the export of carbon credits and how they will be accounted for. For example, if a corporation claims carbon credit for offsetting while the emission reduction will also be counted to the host country's nationally determined contribution (NDC) in the Paris Agreement, it is a form of double claiming. To counter this, some independent carbon crediting programs have proposed an approach where a company with voluntary <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/net-zero-is-not-zero/" target="_blank">net zero targets</a> may choose to purchase carbon credits backed by national accounting or purchase units that represent a 'contribution claim', i.e., supporting the host country’s NDC by financing mitigation outcomes, but not claiming the emission reductions for its own voluntary or net zero target. Despite these technicalities and concerns that surround international carbon markets, it is inevitable that carbon markets will only grow. &nbsp;However, a ‘beneficiary centric’ approach to carbon markets is imperative. Many of the world’s most important carbon sinks are on land inhabited by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/chitwans-bote-people-in-a-changing-world/" target="_blank">indigenous communities</a>. For the carbon market as well as indigenous communities to flourish, the rights of those communities must be secured. It will be important to humanise the carbon market and ensure that beneficiaries can be put at the heart in market design. But this is easier said than done. The discourse on carbon markets tends to be technical, rummaged by financiers, bankers, engineers, and consultants. Given the technicalities around carbon markets, what does it mean to utilise a ‘beneficiary centric’ approach is tough to answer. Yet, it must be answered, thought through, and implemented. Efforts are underway, but conversations need to be more inclusive. Inputs from women, youth, and marginalised and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-is-a-disaster-in-the-nepal-himalaya/" target="_blank">vulnerable groups</a> including indigenous communities will be critical despite their perceived lack of technical knowledge on this subject. Environmental non-governmental organisations will have to play a stronger role in ensuring accountability in carbon transactions, and governments and intergovernmental bodies will have to ensure carbon markets work in the highest level of integrity. There are good examples for this: both the Article 6 rules adopted at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/copout-at-cop26/" target="_blank">COP26 in Glasgow</a>, and the Carbon Core Principles from the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, are ambitious. But humanising the carbon market will be difficult –– not just to implement and monitor, but to decode. Given the financial scale carbon markets can reach, they will have to play a part in funding climate adaptation and loss and damage, above and beyond the international requirements for the carbon market’s contribution to adaptation. This is in addition to their role as a channel of finance for the countries hosting carbon crediting projects. Furthermore, carbon credits cannot only be looked at as a commodity for the buyers. Innovation and imagination are required on what can be done. Carbon banks can be established which could provide low-interest micro loans to beneficiaries using carbon assets as a collateral. This needs to be complemented by financial contracts that cater for beneficiaries and help them retain a certain amount of carbon credits. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-affects-himalayan-rice/" target="_blank">agriculture</a> industry accounts for almost one-fourth of global emissions, yet only around 2% of climate finance flows into it. Linkages between carbon markets and agriculture need to be strengthened, and the financing needs to be scaled up such that not just farmers being impacted by climate crisis can be supported but also methane emissions from the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/agroecology-nepals-answer-to-climate-change/" target="_blank"> agriculture sector</a> can be brought down. Carbon markets have potential, but they need to be unleashed in a way that is inclusive and just. It is integral to put beneficiaries at the heart of any carbon transactions and rethink the overall goal of carbon markets in the first place. Rastraraj Bhandari and Johan Nylander, PhD work in operationalising carbon market instruments including Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and the Voluntary Carbon Market.&nbsp;

The human side of the carbon market

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd35e9c7e80680e0d3059jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4288" height="2848"/><figcaption>Photo: GUÐMUNDUR PÁLL ÓLAFSSON</figcaption></figure>There are many mistaken notions about Nepal and the Himalaya. Nepal is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/himal-pahad-tarai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">not just mountains</a> — the southern plains make up a quarter of the area and is home to more than half the country’s population.The general perception is that the highest peaks mark Nepal’s northern border with China in one long chain. Actually, only Makalu, Lhotse, Everest, Cho Oyu, Gauri Shankar up to Phurbi Ghyachu are on the Nepal-China border.From the north of Kathmandu Valley westwards, Langtang, most of Ganesh, Manaslu, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Kanjiroba run diagonally across Nepal. On the other side of these mountains are the trans-Himalayan districts of Humla, Mugu, Dolpo, Mustang and Manang which form 18% of Nepal’s area.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/conserving-mountains-for-people-and-nature/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Himalaya</a> is not one long row of peaks, but is made up of massifs called Himals: for example, Rolwaling Himal, Ganesh Himal, Annapurna Himal or Dhaulagiri Himal. These Himals are separated by rivers that are older than the mountains, and cut through them as they rose after the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates starting 50 million years ago.Evidence of this is the Yarlung Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) and the Indus which wander along the Tibetan Plateau until they cut through the mountains. Most of Nepal’s major rivers, including the Karnali, Kali Gandaki, the Marsyangdi, Budi Gandaki, the two Bhote Kosis, Tama Kosi and the Arun originate in glaciers north of the main Himalayan chain<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd3629c7e80680e0d305ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="109">The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16488" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kali Gandaki</a> is the deepest scar on the land surface of the earth, flowing at barely 1,400m with two 8,000m massifs of Annapurna and Dhaulagiri towering only 8km apart on either side.Along its riverbed are ammonites, perfectly preserved fossils of shellfish that lived on the floor of the Tethys Ocean 250 million years ago. Fossilised sea lilies have been found on the yellow limestone on top of Mt Everest — thrusted from the bottom of the ocean to nearly nine kilometres into the edge of the stratosphere.What makes our mountains so scenic is also why they are seismic. The mountains are still rising at about 1cm a year as India continues to plough under the softer Asian plate — not steadily but in gigantic lurches every few decades. The rock strata move at 20mm every year, and bend with the strain until they snap, causing regular earthquakes.Himalayan seismologists estimate the tectonic tension building up beneath us, and have calculated that there are 8-9M earthquakes every 500 years or so, with smaller temblors every 100 years along segments of the Himalaya.The <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5065#.Y4-SSy9w2Lc">1934</a> and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/photos-nepal-earthquake-2015,2207">2015</a> earthquakes have eased the strain in central Nepal somewhat, but in western Nepal there is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/aint-seen-nothing-yet/">‘seismic gap’ </a>because there has been no megaquake for at least 500 years. An 8.5M earthquake there could lead to surface displacement of 8m or more, causing widespread destruction in Nepal and all over the densely populated north Indian plains.Aside from the danger of building collapses, an earthquake of this magnitude can cause landslides to block rivers and unleash catastrophic floods of the kind that probably caused the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/past-disasters-foretold/">Pokhara Valley</a> to fill up some 600 years ago.The world’s youngest mountain range is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/we-have-not-respected-the-fragility-of-the-himalaya/">already very fragile</a>, but haphazard infrastructure and settlements without risk assessment makes it even more dangerous. And the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-is-a-disaster-in-the-nepal-himalaya/">climate emergency</a> with its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-needs-weather-stations-in-the-himalaya/">weather extremes</a> adds to the hazards of Himalayan seismicity, including the threat of simultaneous <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/danger-nepals-glacial-lakes-are-filling-up/">glacial lake outburst floods</a>.We need to know our mountains, our own survival depends on it. Nepal’s planners and government ought to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/preparing-for-the-next-big-earthquake-in-nepal">factor in earthquake</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-terrifying-assessment-of-himalayan-melting/">climate risks</a> in future development. The mountains will seek their revenge if we mistreat them. Wilful ignorance, greed and incompetent implementation are sure to invite disaster.The Himalaya is not just a mountain range. It is the entire watershed from the Tibetan Plateau, though the Himals, Mahabharat and Chure foothills to the Tarai. This is the water tower of Asia, it stores ice and groundwater not just for Nepal but for hundreds of millions of people downstream.It is Nepal’s duty to protect the Himalaya not just from and for ourselves, but for humans and other life forms we share this planet with.

Knowing our mountains

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd3209c7e80680e0d304ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>All photos: TASHI R GHALE</figcaption></figure>Brown eyes meet green eyes in the icy crags of Upper-Manang. Tashi R Ghale is camouflaged like a commando, and keeps perfectly still, just 4m from the mother snow leopard and her two cubs as they feast on a Himalayan thar.Ghale knows that even though <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/trekking-to-save-nepals-snow-leopards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">snow leopards are shy creatures</a> and do not attack humans, a provoked mother can defend her cubs. Imperceptibly, he raises his camera and takes a burst of shots, the clicks muffled by the wind and din of Griffon vultures wheeling overhead.Growing up in Manang, Ghale found it difficult to discern the panje (as snow leopards are known in his mother tongue)because their spotted pelt blended so well with the cliffs they climbed.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd3279c7e80680e0d304bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">It is still difficult to catch a glimpse of the endangered Himalayan big cats, but Ghale has since trained himself to track them. He has had close encounters at least 30 times since first photographing them in 2006 and this has earned him the moniker, Snow Leopard Whisperer.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd32b9c7e80680e0d304cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="109">“I know the terrain in Manang like the back of my hand,” says Ghale, showing us around his exhibition, ‘Melting Paradise’ that uses his photographs of snow leopards over the years to highlight how <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/satellite-tracking-snow-leopards-in-nepal-to-study-climate-impact/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate change is impacting the Himalayan habitat</a>.In Manang, like elsewhere in the Himalaya, the glaciers that drain the north slopes of the Annapurnas are shrinking and the snowline is receding. The Gangapurna glacial lake was expanding until it got swallowed up in sediment after a flood last year -- also depicted in Ghale's photographs.Snow leopard photography got some bad press recently with photoshopped images by an American trekker ostensibly taken in the Everest region.But genuine Nepali field biologists like Tashi R Ghale know how difficult it is to get a good shot, and the reward in terms of personal fulfilment.The careful patience of a wildlife photographer shows through Ghale’s work. In Lone Tree II he combines six shots to create an expansive panorama that immerses the viewers in the wilderness habitat of the snow leopard.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd32d9c7e80680e0d304djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2167" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd3329c7e80680e0d304ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2156" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd3369c7e80680e0d304fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3600" height="2400">Ujen Norbu Gurung, the curator of Windhorse Gallery that is exhibiting ‘Melting Paradise’ says he immediately recognised the importance of Ghale’s work: “To talk is one thing, but to show is another. Tashi’s exhibit does just that.”The exhibition includes photographs of snow leopard prey from Dolpo and Humla as well as the predator in the wilds of Manang and Mustang.The Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia) is in the IUCN’s global Endangered C1 red list with only 300 to 500 left in the wild in Nepal. Globally, there may be up to 7,000 left, but these populations are threatened by poaching and habitat decline due to climate change.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd33a9c7e80680e0d3050jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2492" height="1800"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd33f9c7e80680e0d3051jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1667" height="1000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd3439c7e80680e0d3052jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">“Being the top predator, the snow leopard is an indicator species of the health of the Himalayan ecosystem,” says Ghale, and that is the biologist in him speaking.With global warming, he says, the tree line is creeping up the mountains, and this means the snow leopard habitat is slowly being encroached upon by competing common leopards of the lower valleys. Human disturbance with new roads and settlements are also driving away the snow leopard.“A snow leopard is needed for every 150 blue sheep to cull their wild population and reduce pressure on the grasslands,” explains Ghale. A decline in snow leopard population will also affect Himalayan vultures which clean up the carcass that the cats leave behind.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd3489c7e80680e0d3053jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1071" height="1500"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd34c9c7e80680e0d3054jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Tashi Ghale and his team employed his award-winning camera-trapping techniques to conduct a census of predators and prey, as well as employ a team of observers to calculate the population in blocks. Ghale reckons there are approximately 2,200 blue sheep in Manang alone. Snow leopards are studied <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-leads-in-snow-leopard-study/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">most intensively in Nepal</a> and there are signs cat numbers are increasing in some pockets despite the threats.Besides snow leopards, Ghale’s camera traps have led him to discover new and lost Himalayan species like the Pallas Cat and the Himalayan Grey Wolf of which there are said to be only 50 remaining in Nepal. In fact, the Pallas Cat has been renamed Tashi Cat to honour his discovery. Ghale founded the Third Pole Conservancy and has contributed to the Destination Manang eco-tourism campaign.Tashi Ghale's father had taught him to fear the panje, which would often kill livestock and leave paw prints near the family home. Today, rather than fear the animal, Ghale is in awe of them.He teaches secondary students in Manang to set up camera traps and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Studying-Cat-Scat,3559" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">recognise snow leopard droppings</a>. He says: “Just like we have distinctive fingerprints, snow leopards have individual spots. Recognising individual snow leopards is the first step in co-existing with them.”

Snow leopard redux

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022120710128/639058629c7e80680e0ce19djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1972" height="1791"/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>Just before local elections in May, a survey of young Nepalis of voting age showed that 75% felt that the impact of global climate breakdown on the Himalaya should be a political priority for candidates.That survey by the <a href="https://avnicenter.org/">Avni Centre for Sustainability</a> has relevance for federal and provincial elections also because more than half the voters are in the 18-40 age group. However, many in that cluster are among the 4 million Nepalis working and living abroad and are not able to vote.Still, past surveys have shown that environmental concerns like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/happy-new-air/">air pollution</a>, solid waste management and the climate crisis top the list of main concerns of younger Nepalis. And despite the main leaders of the main parties being senior citizens, 90% of the candidates are below 60, and an unprecedented 41% are under 40 years, and 10% are below 30.Therefore, candidates who understand the concerns of young voters will be the ones whose political futures will be secure. Repeatedly-elected politicians who have <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/hiding-their-head-in-the-sand/">mined our rivers</a> to destruction, illegally <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/thinking-locally-acting-locally/">quarried mountains</a> and logged forests, and plundered Nepal’s natural resources can be swept away by these elections.Their political future is threatened by a future generation of Nepali votes.The time has come for Nepal’s politicians to regard the climate crisis not as a problem, but an opportunity. Similarly, voters must also use the chance that comes every five years to reward candidates who are most likely to act on helping Nepalis cope with erratic weather caused by climate change.We need to vote in leaders who understand not just the environmental aspects of climate breakdown, but also the economic and political roots that determine fossil fuel use and consumption patterns.Scientists have warned that we just have 5-8 years to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to avoid the worst impacts of the climate emergency. The politicians we elect on 20 November will be in office for another five years, by which time things will have got much worse.At COP27 that ends this week in Egypt, world leaders will have to implement pledges they made in the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global average temperature rise to only 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Global warming has already crossed the 1.1C threshold. At the rate emissions are rising, it looks like global average temperatures will be at least 2.8C by the end of this century – driving many species to extinction and melting two-thirds of what is left of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/its-sink-or-swim-for-the-himalaya/">Himalayan glaciers.</a>Climate denialism is not as widespread in Nepal as some other countries, either because of the lack of awareness or unavailable alternatives to fossil fuel use. There is also a tendency to use the climate crisis as an excuse to beg for money to tackle it, even when there are a lot <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-struggles-to-balance-nature-and-industry/">of low-hanging fruits</a> that Nepal can pick to reduce its carbon footprint.While we blame industrialised nations for historical emissions, they are watching Nepal’s actions like <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nation-road-from-nowhere-to-nowhere,549">haphazard road-building</a> that has affected drainage and unleashed landslides, mining of rivers and mountains, destruction of watersheds, over-extraction of groundwater, rampant dumping of waste into rivers and forests, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/no-smoke-without-fire-in-kathmandu/">open garbage burning</a>. That is the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/which-loss-and-damage/">real ‘loss and damage’</a> that Nepal should address first.At last year’s COP26 in Glasgow, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/post-cop26-nepals-real-work-now-begins/">Prime Minister Deuba pledged</a> that Nepal would be ‘carbon neutral’ by 2045. But as soon as he returned to Kathmandu, he actively backed a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nijgads-green-runway/">white elephant airport project</a> that was being heard in the Supreme Court and that would have destroyed a large swathe of Tarai native forest. We say one thing, we do another.Nepalis will benefit from decarbonisation: by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/solution-to-pollution/">reducing air pollution,</a> lessening our <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/waste-to-value-with-biogas-in-nepal/">dependence on petroleum imports</a>. Protecting forests, greening cities, promoting organic agriculture, conserving groundwater, cleaning up rivers and soil, will ultimately benefit Nepalis and improve their quality of life.Environment-friendly, green and sustainable policies will mend the economy and safeguard society. Nepal can be a model for meeting carbon negative goals, but for that we need to rapidly replace fossil fuels with hydro, solar and wind energy and prevent further forest destruction.That will be our contribution to help the global effort to address the climate emergency, but the immediate benefits will be enjoyed by this and future generations of Nepalis.Shilshila Acharya is with the <a href="https://avnicenter.org/">Avni Centre for Sustainability</a>, a non-profit and <a href="https://avniventuresnepal.com/">Avni Ventures</a>, a waste management company based in Kathmandu. Read Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/global-crisis-local-solutions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global crisis, local solutions</a>, Sonia Awale<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/walking-the-talk-on-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Walking the talk on climate</a>, Sonia Awale

Election climate in Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b569c7e80680e0c95b5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="739"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>As an unseasonal heat wave hit northern India earlier this year, Nepal Tourism Board launched a promotion campaign with the catchy Hindi slogan: “Garmi Se Behal? Chalo Nepal” (Suffering from the heat: Let’s go to Nepal).If current trends in global heating continues, that may be more than a tourism slogan.Many recent studies predict increased migration due to climate change-induced sea level rise, droughts, and extreme events. In fact, some of this is already happening in South Asia and across the world.People through history have migrated as a strategy to overcome various types of crises. Families and individuals take voluntary decisions to move to a new place, seeking a better life. Cities can act as powerful magnets for those seeking new opportunities.But increasing heat caused by the climate crisis is the new lived reality in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Rising wet-bulb temperatures (a combination of heat plus humidity) is emerging as a major health risk that could have significant socio-economic consequences such as migration.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b599c7e80680e0c95b6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1200"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>An average ambient wet-bulb temperature of 35°C, if it persists for long enough, can lead to heat stress, heat stroke and even death. Sleeping outdoors at night or being in the shade cannot cool the body enough.Air conditioning can help, but low-income families cannot afford it. Surge in energy demand during recent heat waves has already caused frequent power cuts across the region as more energy for air-conditioning overloaded electricity networks.This year, I lived in New Delhi between March and June. The monthly electricity bill doubled compared to February. Increased use of air conditioning requires additional energy, which in India comes mostly from coal-fired thermal plants and add to greenhouse gas emissions.Chemical coolants used in older air conditioners models are about 7,000 times more potent greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. Their increased use adds to further warming.In contrast to New Delhi, Kathmandu during this time felt naturally air-conditioned. But even Kathmandu Valley with higher humidity than in the past was uncomfortably hot in August and September. There were occasional power-cuts, and it was difficult to sleep without fans.Rising average global temperatures, heat island effects, and the degradation of natural ecosystems like water bodies and green spaces, combined with the added moisture in the air, will likely lead to increased heat in the Indo-Gangetic plains, Nepal’s Tarai and valley towns.So, will the rising average summer temperatures and heat in the Ganga plains and across the Indian landmass lead to increased migration to the cooler upland Himalayan areas in future?Theoretically, people may move to cooler regions like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Darjeeling, as well as the mountains of Nepal and Bhutan. Just like when the British ruled India, they moved seasonally to ‘hill stations’ like Darjeeling, Shimla, and Nainital to avoid summers in the plains. When and how could that happen?Traditional migration patterns, however, have been the opposite, where people from the hills move to the cities in the plains for jobs and better economic opportunities.But during the summer, the Tarai and valley towns in the hills of Nepal will also get hot and humid. Temperatures are expected to rise in the Himalaya as well.There are other unknowns: How many people will move? Will it be internally from the Tarai plains, hot river valleys, or will people also cross national boundaries? Answers to these questions can have mind-boggling social and political implications.In the meantime, it may be worthwhile to reflect on past experience of the potential impact of mass tourism on sensitive Himalayan ecosystems so that we can take ameliorative action.Increasing heat will impact people’s ability to work, grow food, and seek health care. It will hurt the poor and elderly the most. In Nepal, we have not yet recognised increasing heat as a potential problem– both in terms of threats in the Tarai and river valleys, and the environmental implications of possible move of people up the mountains.There has been no systematic research of this issue. The least we can do is start to talk about it.Ajaya Dixit is Executive Director of the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET) Nepal.

Garmi Se Behal? Chalo Nepal.

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b6c9c7e80680e0c95bcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Farmers in Bihar, across the border from Nepal, tending to their parched fields (left). Climate change will not just lead to droughts and floods, but also unsurvivable heat waves. Photo: NABIN BARAL / THE THIRD POLE</figcaption></figure>Kim Stanley Robinson’s cli-fi novel The Ministry for the Future begins with an unprecedented heatwave in northern India. Air conditioners and fans stop working because of power cuts, water runs out, and more than 20 million people die.The same dystopian future is the subject of Gaia Vince’s new book Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World. But Vince’s book is not science fiction — it looks at mass migrations from the most densely-populated parts of the world because of unsurvivable heat waves.‘Fleeing the tropics, the coasts and formerly arable lands, huge populations will need to seek new homes. You will be among them, or you will be receiving them,’ Vince predicts. The heat waves in India, China, Europe and North America this summer were hints of what may be in store.Scientists are predicting that if the buildup of greenhouse gases continues at the present rate, average global temperatures will cross 2°C by 2050, and could reach a sizzling 4°C by the end of the century.The heat impact on South Asia, especially the densely populated Indo-Gangetic plains, would be unthinkable, and will be accompanied by sea level rise that could submerge coastal cities, and millions will be hit by floods and droughts.Vince predicts that large swathes of the globe will be uninhabitable, leaving no choice for at least 5 billion people but to move either to higher latitude or altitude.The scenario is so apocalyptic that Robinson in his novel imagines a future in which world governments are finally shocked into action by the mass deaths in northern India. And Vince advocates preparing for future migrations because it is not a question of if, but when, where and how many.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b6f9c7e80680e0c95bdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="478" height="524"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=37135&amp;preview_nonce=066ab9802a&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Migration mitigation</a>, Editorial<a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/clock-starts-ticking-at-cop-25/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Clock starts ticking at COP25</a>, Josie WangUnlike authors, scientists and academics are loath to make specific predictions about mass migrations without adequate research. However, military strategists and intelligence agencies in many countries are already known to be planning for the security posed by a rising tide of humanity on the move.In Nepal, it could mean a steady increase in the movement of people to the uplands from the Tarai, reversing the outmigration of people from the mountains to the plains. In India, people could stream out of the heavily populated Ganga plains for the cooler climes of Kashmir, Himachal, Uttarakhand, or Sikkim. Heat could push many Pakistanis from Punjab and Sindh to the Hindu Kush.“Humans have always migrated, for one reason or the other,” says Yogendra B Gurung, Professor at the Central Department of Population Studies in Tribhuvan University. “It used to be for better economic opportunities. Now, we have <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-is-a-disaster-in-the-nepal-himalaya/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate-induced disasters</a> in the mix.”For decades, Nepalis have moved from the mountains and hills to the Tarai. First due to planned resettlement in the 1960s, and later seeking better jobs, healthcare and education resulting in 54% of Nepal’s 30 million population now living in the plains. But if current heating trends continue, the movement could be in the opposite direction.Climate migration is not new, it is already happening. Villages in Kavre, Ramechhap and Mustang districts have seen entire households moving out because of water sources going dry due to prolonged droughts. But heat stress is going to affect many more people, and they will have nowhere to go, but up.A new report by the World Bank Group, Country, Climate and Development Report for Nepal warns: 'Heat stress affects large swathes of the country, with over 4 million Nepalese facing the health impacts of extreme heat.'Read Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-carbon-footprint-of-tourism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The carbon footprint of tourism</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/climate-climax/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Climate climax</a>, Editorial<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/climate-damage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Climate damage</a>, Editorial<a style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-needs-to-get-its-climate-act-together/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s climate adaptation plans</a> so far mostly take into account melting glaciers, receding snow lines and the mountains. “There is no real mention of the Tarai in our climate discourse, we haven’t even begun to study the slow-onset impacts of the climate crisis,” says Ajaya Dixit of the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET) Nepal.Dixit spent three months this spring in New Delhi during an unseasonal heat wave, with the maximum temperature most days touching 45°C in April. He writes in a guest editorial for Nepali Times this week: ‘In Nepal, we have not yet recognised increasing heat as a potential problem – both in terms of threats in the Tarai and river valleys, and the environmental implications of possible movement of people up the mountains.’Future climate refugees might have to deal with a whole new set of problems in their new homes: adapting to drastically different climate and socio-economic conditions, and a hostile political environment.“Nepal is already starting to see reverse migration of people from lowlands to highlands unlike in the past, and we will likely see more of it in the future. Even plants and vectors like mosquitoes are moving up,” says climate scientist Manjeet Dhakal. “But it is unlikely to resolve the root cause of the problem. It is much better to devise adaptation strategies starting right now.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b709c7e80680e0c95bejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1170" height="739"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Like in Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel, Gaia Vince in Nomad Century explores the similar solutions like using bioengineering to stabilise and cool the planet, a global governance body to set the planet’s thermostat, building new compact cities at higher latitudes to house climate refugees with an international tax, universal passports.Many of these ideas are politically unfeasible in the present climate, as seen in the rise of populist anti-immigration parties in the North. But the climate refugee crisis will be so drastic that it will need drastic solutions. Vince believes that future migration will benefit both refugees and their destination countries which by then will have declining populations because of falling birth rates. In fact, migration may be necessary for humanity to survive a crisis of its own making.Humans migrated out of Africa, possibly also due to climate reasons, some 80,000 years ago. And they have been on the move ever since. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/underreporting-the-climate-emergency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate crisis</a> now poses the threat of another mass exodus, on a scale never seen before.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-must-prepare-for-climate-migration/">Nepal must prepare for climate migration</a>, Sonia Awale<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-third-pole-is-warming-faster-than-expected/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Third Pole is warming faster than expected</a>, Kunda Dixit<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-terrifying-assessment-of-himalayan-melting/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Terrifying assessment of a Himalayan melting</a>, Kunda DixitThe Ministry for the FutureBy Kim Stanley RobinsonOrbit, 2020576p          $20.49 (hardback)<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b729c7e80680e0c95bfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1651" height="2560"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131156/63723b769c7e80680e0c95c0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1684" height="2560">Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our WorldBy Gaia VinceFlatiron Books, 2022288p$18.99 (hardback)

Sonia Awale

Unthinkable in the current climate

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232c29c7e80680e0c48aejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4000" height="3000"/><figcaption>All photos: BHADRA SHARMA</figcaption></figure>The cultures of Indigenous peoples across the world have traditionally depended on native plants and animals. It is when these culturally significant species start disappearing that the ways of life of those communities are also threatened — as is happening with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Chepang-living-edge,3136" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s semi-nomadic Chepang people</a>.The Chepang live along the Mahabharat sub-Himalayan belt, and their slash-and-burn lifestyle has always been inextricably linked to the versatile चिउरी Indian Butter Tree. But the accelerated destruction of the chiuri has imperilled Chepang traditions, culture and way of life.Known by its scientific name Diploknema butyracea, the Indian Butter Tree is the source of food, fuel, pesticide, fertiliser, cosmetic lotions, and is even given as dowry.Here in the rolling hills of Makwanpur district south of Kathmandu, Ramesh Praja remembers fondly the festive chiuri flowering season in winter, when the entire forest used to hum with bees to the blossoms.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/bee-population-in-decline,3613" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Honey from hives</a> of chiuri bees are especially delicious, and is said to have medicinal properties. Once they had the taste of chiuri honey, Praja remembers townspeople hiking up to Chepang villages to buy more.By evening, it would be the bats that would fly in to sip the nectar, and pollinate the chiuri flowers. The Chepang also hunted the bats, and it is a tradition in winter for relatives to gather around in the village and feast on tasty barbecued bats, inviting honoured guests.The trees fruit in spring, and it is another important food item in the Chepang diet. The seeds are ground and turned into butter that used to be taken down to the market in Chitwan, where <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/First-Chepang-nurse,3143" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Chepang</a> bartered it for salt and clothing.The hull from seeds are also used as organic pesticides and fertilisers on crops. Powered chiuri husk was also useful to sprinkle on water to drug fish and make them easier to catch.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232c69c7e80680e0c48afjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="4000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232ca9c7e80680e0c48b0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The chiuri butter had antiseptic properties, and the Chepang rubbed it like a lotion on their chafed hands.“We grew up with chiuri and in the company of bats,” Praja recalls. “The trees are now disappearing, and the bats too are gone.”Ramesh Praja has given up his people’s traditional forest life, and now runs a small shop by a new dirt road that has snaked up to the village. His family now cooks in oil bought at the market, and not anymore in chiuri butter.There are many factors that are depleting the trees: the climate crisis has dried up perennial springs and lowered the water table, chiuri saplings do not take root in the forest as they used to, road construction and expansion of settlements have led to landslides that destroyed the trees that were left. The Chepang themselves have felt that summers are unbearably hot even up in the mountains, and winters are milder. In <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/meanwhile-a-measles-outbreak-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Chepang settlement</a> of Silinge in Makwanpur, villagers say they now have never-before-seen mosquitos.“Our village is almost as hot as Chitwan now,” says Ramesh Praja.There has been an effort to re-introduce beekeeping, and some Chepang families are in the honey business. But in the absence of the chiuri trees, the bees do not have the special chiuri flowers that gave the honey from here its special taste.“If we could revive the chiuri forest, the honey would be like gold here,” says Motiram Chepang of Silinge.With the trees mostly gone, the Chepang of this area pack their hives into pickups and take them down to Chitwan or Hetauda to graze on flowers there. Besides the transport cost, they also have to pay a hefty rent per hive to let their bees out.Ramesh Praja himself lost about 80 bee hives during the pandemic lockdown when he could not protect his hives that he had taken down to Chitwan from floods. He says, “I lost about Rs800,000. If there had been chiuri trees at home I would not have lost all those hives.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131120/637232cd9c7e80680e0c48b1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="4000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There was ample potential for the Chepang to promote <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/homestay-brings-locals-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">homestay tourism</a>, but with the trees gone the culture is not as vibrant and there is nothing to attract visitors.Former ward chair of Raksirang of Makwanpur Singha Lal Chepang says his entire focus now is on protecting the chiuri that are left and to revive the former forests. He recalls that back in the Panchayat-era 50 years ago, the tree was registered as belonging to the Chepang, and people here even had certificates to prove their ownership.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s community forestry</a> laws also protect the Chepang’s right to the trees, but the chiuri is still disappearing from the forests of Makwanpur, Gorkha, Chitwan and Dhading, where about 50,000 Chepang people live.The changing lifestyle of the Chepang has also damaged the chiuri stands. As villagers take to livestock rearing, their goats now graze in the forest and eat up the undergrowth so there are no new trees to replace the old ones when they die.“There used to be a time when each household could harvest up to 1,800kg of chiuri fruit and sell the butter in bulk,” remembers Sancharaj Praja. “Now the trees are gone, there is no more demand for the butter, and people have stopped even picking the fruits anymore.”Some development organisations have tried to help revive the chiuri plant, tens of thousands of seedlings were planted to try to conserve Chepang culture, but the attempts have failed so far mainly because the goats have eaten them up.The trees are not even given as dowry anymore. Says Motiram Chepang: “First off, there are no saplings to give away. But then the children also do not understand the value of their people’s attachment to this tree anymore.”

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