UNDP builds partnership with two Nepali climate influencers

By A Staff Reporter

Kathmandu, Apr. 23:The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nepal has announced its partnership with two internationally celebrated climate influencers -- Nima Rinji Sherpa and Purnima Shrestha -- as part of its expanding efforts to raise awareness about climate justice in Nepal. 

According to a press statement issued by UNDP on Tuesday, the collaboration is being launched in the lead-up to UNDP’s social media campaign, #GenClima (in short #GENC) which showcases the rising generation of young people working on the realm of gender-responsive climate action, mainly to spotlight the disproportionate impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities, especially women and indigenous populations.

Despite Nepal's negligible impact on global greenhouse gas emissions, people in the high mountainous and Himalayan regions are facing severe effects of climate change. As this trend continues, it leads to shrinking glaciers and melting permafrost, resulting in a decline in biodiversity. Climate change affects agriculture, health, drinking water, infrastructure, education, and livelihoods, the statement said.

In 2020, a three-year study conducted by UNDP and ICIMOD revealed that Nepal has 2,323 glacial lakes, with 47 of them being at very high risk. As a crucial part of the world's glacial system, these mountains require urgent collective efforts to be preserved for future generations. This campaign will not just be a hashtag, it will be a rallying cry for youth who refuse to be sidelined as the planet warms and inequality deepens. 

Kyoko Yokosuka, UNDP Resident Representative in Nepal, said, “Climate change transcends environmental parameters, it is fundamentally an issue of social justice.