NEPAL: Experts call for climate change adaptation plans Dig Tsho
lake in eastern Nepal, which is filling with icy water as rising
temperatures accelerate glacier melt KATHMANDU, 8 May 2009
(IRIN) - Nepal is one of a number of South Asian countries
directly affected by global warming, especially in mountainous
regions which have seen rapid glacier melt: Local experts warn
that climate change adaptation plans urgently need to be put in
place. Some organisations have been involved in small-scale
community activities designed to promote sustainable
agriculture, alternative energy and biodiversity conservation,
but these are insufficient, they say. “There has to be planned
adaptation which will require some technological interventions
and investment. We need a good understanding of the extent of
the impacts,” Arun Bhakta Shrestha, a climate change specialist
from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development (ICIMOD ), told IRIN in Kathmandu. The Asian
Development Bank, which is helping the Nepalese