VZCZCXRO6340
PP RUEHCI
DE RUEHKT #1142/01 3491104
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 151104Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1161
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 7234
RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN PRIORITY 0379
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 2919
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 5616
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3384
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 4873
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

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, 
 
KATHMANDU 00001142  002 OF 003 
 
 
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