Global climate change is the phenomena of changes in the earth’s climate due to the human induced interfere to the natural systems of the earth. IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) scenario suggests that the global mean temperature might increase by 2°C over 1990-2100 under best estimate in case of no intervention to prevent the climate changes. Scenario with high emissions and high climate sensitivity5 has reported as high as 4.5°C rise in temperature in 2100 as compared to 1990. Emissions of the greenhouse gases by the various human activities increase their concentrations in earth’s atmosphere. The major gases responsible for the greenhouse effects are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, CFC-12, HCFC-22c and CF4, but the relative global warming potentials of these gases are different. Carbon dioxide is the major greenhouse gas that is emitted in large volume by human activities. Carbon dioxide is emitted during the production, transportation and consumption of the fossil fuels (such as coal, oil, gas etc.) as energy sources in numerous activities to produce mgoods and services. Higher carbon content fuel such as coal emits greater amount of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere during the combustion process compared to lower carbon content fuel such as natural gas. The effort to mitigate carbon dioxide emissions would therefore require reductions in the use of the fossil fuels, improvement of the energy efficiency, switching to low carbon content fuels, greater use of renewable energy resources. Apart from the fossil fuels, deforestation and the changes in the land uses are also responsible for net increases in the carbon dioxide emissions by decreasing the carbon uptake from the atmosphere during photosynthesis process and by releasing carbon stock to the atmosphere.
Nepal has the considerable stake in climate change activities. The first is due to its own vulnerable situation and second is due to international donor driven interests. Nepal can tap benefits by participating to the ongoing climate change international initiatives.
Deforestation is a leading cause of climate change—contributing almost 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually—most of it driven by demands from industrialized countries for forest products or for commodities like beef or soy that compete with forests for the use of land. In a number of developing countries, tropical deforestation is the largest source of emissions.
Aggressive action to reduce (and ultimately halt) emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) must be part of any serious policy to address the climate crisis, while at the same time respecting other forest values. Without REDD, keeping global average surface temperature increase below 2°C will likely be impossible. Exceeding 2°C of warming creates a much larger risk of triggering critical climate tipping points leading to large-scale species extinctions, catastrophic reductions in water supply, or increasingly rapid disintegration of ice sheets with resulting devastating increases in sea level.
By placing a price on carbon through a cap-and-trade program, keeping forests intact becomes economically valuable. Climate policy can then help realize this value for countries and communities that choose to protect forests. Financing REDD will be substantial, but so will the benefits to the economy. According to the Eliasch Review, a recent report commissioned by the United Kingdom, halving global emissions from deforestation could produce $3.7 trillion in net benefits to the global economy. Financing REDD could be done through a suite of mechanisms including direct payments from governments, market approaches allowing capped emitters to satisfy (i.e. “offset”) some emissions by paying to reduce deforestation and market-hybrid programs that channel a portion of revenues from auctioning emissions allowances to reducing forestry emissions.
Finally, the value of tropical forests extends well beyond their carbon storage capacity to include important ecosystem services and key economic development benefits for forest-dependent people.
