For a country hemmed between the world’s first and second most populous nations with giant carbon footprints, clean air is no less than a luxury.
But it won’t be fair to blame the neighbors alone for a progressively worsening air pollution in the Kathmandu valley and other parts of our country, which still has a very nominal carbon footprint.
Article 30 of the Constitution of Nepal stipulates the right to a clean environment, stating that every citizen shall have the right to live in a clean and healthy environment.
But that right is up in smoke like several other fundamental rights. With not much industrial base to boast of, vehicular emission is a major factor behind air pollution in the country, along with forest fires. During the sweltering summer that has just passed us by, the country hogged the headlines as numerous forest fires worsened air quality further and further even as the government did precious little to control the situation.
Air quality has improved due to the rains, which, though, has brought another set of disasters in an ill-prepared and ill-governed country.
The wildfires are gone for now, but it’s not unusual to come across scenes that make one wonder if our roads were on fire.
Every day, ill-maintained vehicles leave behind plumes of soot on our roads under the very nose of our extremely competent government, making a mockery of high emission standards it has set vis-a-vis vehicular emission.
Under the Paris Agreement, Nepal's Nationally Determined Contribution 3.0 aims for net-zero emissions by 2050, expanding clean energy to 15,000 MW by 2030, and 15 percent of energy from clean sources by 2030.
Despite green commitments to the international community and the domestic populace, the government continues to invest in infrastructure that is sure to increase the country’s dependence on dirty fuels. The country with enough hydropower potential to meet her domestic energy needs already has a cross-border pipeline (Motihari-Amhlekhgunj petroleum pipeline) with plans to extend it to Lothar (Chitwan) and then onto Kathmandu, and another cross-border petroleum pipeline (Siliguri-Charali petroleum) on the cards.
We export green energy and import dirty fuels. What can be more ironic?
When the rest of the world is switching to green transport alternatives like electric vehicles and hydrogen engines, the government is showing some clear signs of petroleum addiction, which will bleed the national economy further and further as petroleum imports account for a large chunk of our trade deficit.
It’s time the government did a course correction and shifted focus on developing green transport systems and an economy that does not ‘run’ on dirty fuels.
