Submit your Article

Nepal is set to send a significantly smaller team to 30th UN Climate Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil. The conference will be held from Nov 10 this year. Environment Secretary Rajendra Prasad Mishra told ApEx that negotiations are ongoing to decide the representatives.

The decision comes in line with the Sept 21 Cabinet meeting, led by interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki, to curb non-essential overseas travel and limit official delegations. To cut government expenses, the government has capped heads of state or government-led delegations at 10 members and limited other government-sponsored teams to only three members.

The choice also shows Nepal’s political instability following the abrupt political change brought about by the GenZ protests that led to the fall of the KP Oli government. The new government is now tasked with rebuilding scores of government buildings, as well as fixing the infrastructure damaged in recent floods and landslides.

When Nepal first started going to UN climate talks in 1995, it had just two delegates, while the United Kingdom and United States had 19 and 27 respectively. Its delegations expanded incrementally over the years. Sixty-nine delegates attended COP26 in Glasgow and, at COP20 in Lima, the government was reprimanded for sending a ‘jumbo delegation’ on limited resources.

A 2024 ApEx report revealed that Nepal’s delegation missed 68 out of the 392 sessions at COP29 because of overworked negotiators. Organizational shortcomings aside, Nepal has used the COPs to lead mountains and climate justice causes. At COP29 in Baku, Nepal sent its high-level team led by President Ramchandra Paudel, where Nepal emphasized mobilizing climate finance, protecting mountain habitats, and triggering the Loss and Damage Fund.

The delegation also pushed for an annual financing target of $1.3trn for developing countries, gave highest priority to mountain‑specific risk exposures, and made appeals for finance for adaptation and technology transfer. President Paudel called for the reallocation of military expenditures to climate efforts, made calls for grants‑based climate finance and the polluter‑pays principle, and asserted that saving the Himalayas is saving the planet.

Nepal also organized a ‘Sagarmatha Sambaad’ dialogue on mountain resilience in May this year.

Analysts note that although the agendas of Nepal have become more expansive, its bargaining power has not increased. The new ‘small’ negotiation team may therefore push the government to concentrate on core issues such as climate finance, adaptation and mountain conservation and eliminate ceremonial or non‑technical members.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s hosting of COP30 in the city of Belém in the Amazon region has created an accommodation crisis. Reuters reports that Belém hotel rates have risen between $150 and $4,400 a night, and some developing nations could not secure a room.

Latvia climate minister Kaspars Melnis said that the expense is prohibitive and that his nation is considering whether to attend via video link. Lithuania has even talked about boycotting the summit on the same grounds, and the Alliance of Small Island States is concerned that reducing delegations will result in priceless expertise being lost.

African delegates have told Reuters that they have been quoted $700 a night, a far higher sum than the UN daily allowance. In response, the UN International Civil Service Commission has increased the subsistence daily allowance for 144 developing countries from $144 to $197. Brazil has offered restricted available rooms up to $220 a day for developing countries, but with only approximately 18,000 hotel beds for an estimated 45,000 participants, demand outstrips supply.

The cost crisis provoked a wider backlash. During an emergency session in July, the UN climate office listened to complaints from the African group and others. The group chairperson, Richard Muyungi, told Reuters that poor nations cannot cut delegations and make themselves heard. Nevertheless, some wealthier EU states, like the Netherlands and Poland, have said that they might halve or drastically reduce their delegations, with Polish officials warning that they might cut the delegation to the bone or stay away altogether.

With Nepal looking at its COP30 participation, it must juggle local austerity, global cost pressures and the imperative of good representation. An experienced-officer austerity-cut delegation aligns with former Environment Secretary Deepak Kumar Kharal’s proposal of a full-time negotiation team but risks Nepal’s voice in a platform where the more, the merrier is the motto.

Large rates of accommodation in Belém and Nepal’s internal budget crisis also put additional constraints. The ability of the interim government to balance these competing pressures will make or break Nepal’s climate diplomacy and its ability to attract financial and technical aid for its poor hill communities.

The Nepali Army has completed five decades of service to the conservation of nature and environment across Nepal, marking a milestone in the country’s fight to protect its fragile biodiversity and natural heritage. Over the years, the Army has played a critical role in safeguarding national parks, wildlife, forests, and Himalayan ecosystems.

Nepal’s formal conservation journey took a major step in 1961 when the Army began rhino patrols in response to the declining population of the endangered one-horned rhinoceros, which had dropped from 800 to around 100. In 1973, Chitwan was declared the country’s first national park, and two years later, the government officially tasked the Nepali Army with park security.

Today, around 8,000 army personnel are deployed across 14 protected areas—including 12 national parks, one wildlife reserve, and one hunting reserve—through eight battalions, seven independent units, and one dedicated conservation training school.

Operating under National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act (1973) and the ‘Permanent Operating Procedure’ endorsed by the Council of Ministers in 2010, the Army has worked closely with government bodies, local communities, and international partners to implement large-scale operations like ‘Operation Conservation’, now in its 11th edition, says the Nepali Army Spokesperson Brigadier General Raja Ram Basnet who also is the director of Directorate of National Park and Wildlife Reserve.

The Army’s protection duties include patrolling inside national parks and wildlife reserves, preventing encroachment, combating illegal poaching, and controlling deforestation. In support of nature conservation research, the Army provides human resources for wildlife censuses, offers essential information related to conservation efforts, and assists in the rehabilitation of wild species.

As part of its social services, the Army aims to raise awareness about environmental protection. These efforts include large-scale afforestation programs, repairing and renovating schools and shrines, supporting health centers in buffer zones and protected areas, providing medical care and water supply, and contributing to the construction of bridges and short stretches of road.

According to the Army website, in disaster management, the Army’s strategic locations and organizational structure enable it to respond swiftly to natural calamities and assist victims effectively. Furthermore, the Army contributes to human resource development by preparing and providing trained personnel for conservation education and training programs within buffer zones, national parks, and wildlife reserves.

Forests occupy 25.4 percent of the land area of Nepal, but deforestation is rampant. FAO estimates that Nepal lost about 2,640 sq km of forest cover between 2000 and 2005. In this bleak scenario, the protection of forests and their biodiversity is a great challenge to Nepal. The Army’s 12 battalions and independent companies protect forest areas measuring some 9,767 sq km.

This effort has yielded remarkable results. The number of Bengal tigers in Nepal increased from 121 in 2009 to 355 in 2022, making Nepal the first country to more than double its tiger population ahead of the 2022 global commitment timeline. Similarly, the one-horned rhino population, once near extinction, rose to 752 as of the 2021 census.

In 2019, the Army launched the ‘Clean Himalaya Campaign’ in coordination with various stakeholders to address rising pollution in the mountain regions. So far, the campaign has collected over 119 tons of waste, recovered 12 dead bodies, and managed four human skeletons from Sagarmatha and other peaks.

Despite budgetary constraints halting this year’s campaign, the Army carried out the ‘Exercise Shikhar Yatra’ to collect 500 kilograms of waste from Pangboche and Dingboche under the Sagarmatha National Park and raised awareness among locals and trekkers, says Basnet.

Deployed across the country’s diverse geography—from the +42°C heat of the Tarai to the -20°C cold of the Himalayas—the Army conducts daily patrols on foot, bicycles, vehicles, boats, and even elephants to prevent illegal activities like poaching and encroachment. “The Army also runs awareness campaigns in local communities and schools to ensure people are part of the solution.

Technological advancements such as drones, CCTV surveillance, Smart Eye, Vehicle Tracking, and the Real-Time Patrol Monitoring System have been incorporated to modernize conservation efforts,” says Basnet. However, the Army emphasizes the need for further technological upgrades to meet evolving challenges.

The Army notes that despite strong efforts, numerous challenges persist. These include climate change impacts, illegal wildlife trade, human-wildlife conflict, habitat encroachment, and limited access to cutting-edge technology. Nepal also faces external pressures, such as international demand for wildlife products and its role as a transit country in global trafficking networks.

Nonetheless, Nepal’s integrated conservation model—combining military deployment, community involvement, and governmental cooperation—has earned international acclaim. Nepal celebrated several years (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019) as ‘Zero Poaching Years’. Multiple army units have received the Abraham Conservation Award, and Bardiya National Park won the prestigious Tx2 Award for tiger conservation.

According to Basnet, the Army’s 50-year conservation journey is not just about protection, but also about ensuring sustainable development and responsible tourism. The preservation of Nepal’s unique biodiversity contributes significantly to global climate goals, especially in light of the Paris Agreement’s Article 6 and 9 provisions for climate finance.

Moreover, the Himalayas, which are crucial to the water supply for nearly 1.5bn people, are under increasing threat due to global warming and tourism-related pollution. “The Army’s clean-up campaigns and high-altitude patrols aim to safeguard these ecosystems for future generations,” says the Army.

Lieutenant Colonel Gajendra Rawal, operation officer at the Directorate of National Park and Wildlife Reserve, says that the Army is continuously enhancing its efforts through School of Nature Conversation. The school, operated by the Army for about a decade now, trains security personnel in nature conservation practices, particularly for those deployed within the park. The school also functions as a joint conservation institution, involving park officials, conservation partners, and other stakeholders.  

There are 12 different regulations related to national parks and wildlife conservation. The government is currently working to consolidate them into a single umbrella regulation, which is expected to address the existing gaps and community concerns.