Kathmandu, Nepal, November 1, 2021: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba led Nepalese delegation has taken part in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change-26th Conference of Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland on Monday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres greet at the inaugural session of the summit. He is going to deliver Nepal’s national statement on Monday night.
The conference begun from 31 October is going to finishing on 12 November. The government heads and head of states from around 200 countries including about 30,000 participants from across the world have taken part in the conference. Though the conference was meant to take place in 2020, it was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prime Minister Deuba is going to raise the issue of climate change and its adverse effects in Nepal like developing countries while presenting Nepal’s policy documents and action plans during the summit.
The government of Nepal has already endorsed the Nepal’s stands in the summit including the commitments to implement the agreements. Nepal is going not only to shed light the Nepal’s national commitments along with its goals to reduce carbon emission to net zero by 2045 but also seek commitments from the world, a delegate member said preferring anonymity.
Nepal is going to present ‘Nepal’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP: 2021-2050)’, Nepal’s Long-term Strategy to Reduce Carbon Emissions to Net Zero’, and ‘National Framework on the Climate Hazards’ in the summit. A cabinet meeting held on October 28 had endorsed the documents.
In the sideline of the meeting, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is going to hold bilateral meetings with various state heads and other dignitaries including his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the summit.
It is said that the government of Nepal and India had already agreed to hold a meeting between Prime Ministers of both the countries on the sidelines of the summit. Though the agendas of the discussions were not fixed, the discussions would be concentrated on bilateral issues including the strengthening of relationship between the two neighboring countries.
As this is the first foreign visit for Prime Minister Deuba since he assumed office in July, the event is being taken as an opportunity to hold meetings with various state heads and other dignitaries.
It is said that Deuba would hold separate talks with various world leaders indling his British counterpart Boris Johnson. He is scheduled to return home on November 4 although the COP26 will end on November 12.
Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Deuba addressed the all-party parliamentary group for Nepal and UK-Nepal trade and investment forum organized in London.
Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister Deuba said that he was encouraged by the goodwill and solidarity expressed in the UK Parliament towards Nepal on various occasions. ‘It is a warm reminder that Nepal has great friends in difficult times,’ Deuba said.
During the event, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for Nepal, Virendra Sharma, vice-chair and president of UK-Nepal trade and investment forum Lord Sheikh, Lord Lancaster and Catherine West MP also delivered the statement highlighting the role of the parliamentary group to enhance the bilateral relationship between the two countries.
