Kathmandu, 30 October: Finance Minister Janardan Sharma has drawn the attention of the international community saying that Nepal’s access to various funds opened to mitigate the effects of climate change has been reduced.
He said this while addressing a virtual meeting with the representatives of the World Bank. In the meeting held on Wednesday, the development projects implemented in Nepal with the support of the World Bank and the impact of climate change were discussed.
In his address, Minister Sharma expressed the commitment of the government to work expeditiously to speed up the implementation of energy and other infrastructure projects to be implemented with the assistance of the World Bank.
He expressed confidence that the World Bank would address Nepal’s interests and agendas at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 26). Stating that Nepal is taking a big risk due to climate change, Minister Sharma said that the government is working hard to assess the damage caused by unseasonal rains, save the lives of the people, supply food and rebuild the damaged infrastructure.
Minister Sharma also drew the attention of the World Bank to the fact that the Copenhagen decision on annual compensation for developing countries most affected by climate change has not been implemented and that Nepal does not have adequate access to funds set up to prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change. He said that Nepal wants the World Bank to raise its voice in this issue even in the ongoing COP-26. Nepal is expected to receive the necessary support from the international community to combat the effects of climate change.
In the virtual meeting, World Bank Vice President for South Asia Hartwing Schafer pointed out the need to show promptness in implementation to make full use of the assistance and facilities received by Nepal. He said that they were positive to present Nepal’s interest in climate change at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 26).
During the meeting, Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini expressed the expectation that the assistance would be regular as in the past as the World Bank is a reliable partner of Nepal. Expressing gratitude for the assistance provided by the World Bank in the fields of energy and education, Secretary Marasini said that the government would play an active role in coordinating with the concerned ministries for the implementation of the project and resolving any obstacles.
People’s News Monitoring Service
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