Due to its high altitudes, diverse terrain and weather variability, Nepal’s environment is exceedingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. The country faces flooding, landslides, monsoons, food shortages and a rapidly changing ecosystem. Climate change will have untold consequences on Nepal’s population, especially among rural and marginalized groups, and could cause economic, social and health problems. To mitigate these impacts, coordinated efforts among the government, citizens and the international community are needed.
The inability of governments around the world to address climate change, even as technical, scientific and financial remedies have been identified, is both frustrating and alarming. In some low-income countries, like Nepal, politicians are striving to implement poorly understood sustainable development policies amidst a lack of awareness of the underlying problems. In others, like Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), leaders lack the knowledge and institutional capacity to act.