Biogas brings ‘green revolution’ to rural Nepal

BADRAHANI, Nepal: Nepalese villager Khinu Darai used to have to walk about five kilometres (three miles) every day to collect firewood so she could cook meals for her family.

Then two years ago, she bought a biogas plant under a government scheme to encourage villagers to convert to greener energy — an event the 30-year-old mother of three says transformed her life.

‘Biogas is a blessing for my family. These days I don't have to go into the jungle to collect wood,’ she told AFP outside her simple mud-brick home in the southern village of Badrahani.

‘It is clean and safe, and we are healthier now as we are not breathing in smoke all the time.’

In all, 82 households in Badrahani have bought biogas plants at heavily subsidised rates under the scheme, which is funded by the Dutch and German governments.

Biogas is a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by feeding cow dung, human waste and water into an airtight underground tank known as digester and allowing it to decompose.

Environmentalists say biogas has huge potential in Nepal, where nearly 80 per cent of the population of 27 million live in rural areas with no electricity, leaving them dependent on firewood for cooking and heating.

This means they live in smoke-filled houses, causing respiratory problems, particularly for young children, while the destruction of forests is also a major cause for concern.

Badrahani is situated on the edge of the Chitwan National Park, home to endangered species including the Royal Bengal tiger and one-horned rhino, whose habitat is threatened by villagers chopping down trees for firewood.

‘Biogas has brought a green energy revolution to the country,’ said Prakash

Lamichhane, head of research at the Biogas Sector Partnership (BSP), the government agency in charge of installing the plants.

‘We have the capacity to build 1.9 million biogas plants, but we have achieved just 11 per cent of our target so far. We still have a long way to go.’

Over the past two decades, BSP has installed around 210,000 biogas plants at a cost of around 350 dollars each, with the government covering a third of the price.

BSP says each plant reduces the country's already low carbon emissions by around 4.7 tonnes a year.

‘We are helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 987,000 tonnes every year. It is helping us combat climate change,’ said Lamichhane, chief of the research department.

The biogas project has won plaudits as a rare environmental success in a country with one of the world's most polluted capital cities.

But BSP research and development officer Mahaboob Siddiki said it had not always proved easy to convert villagers.

‘Because the gas is produced from cow dung and human waste, villagers thought it was impure, and that it would be shameful to cook food using it,’ said Siddiki, who has worked on the project since it began 26 years ago.

‘Several times, we were chased away from some of the villages, but we never gave up,’ he said, calling the technology a ‘win-win situation’ for villagers and the environment.

It is a view shared by Bibhimaya Tamang, a 45-year-old farmer from Badrahani who uses slurry — a by-product of biogas — to fertilize her crops, giving her higher yields and more income from the vegetables the family grows.

‘Staying in a smoke-filled kitchen for hours was painful. It hurt my eyes and I used to cough a lot while cooking,’ she told AFP. ‘Using biogas has been so much better.’

Sameer Thapa, coordinator of Nepal's Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), said the country made 600,000 dollars in 2007 by trading a million tonnes of carbon emission reductions from biogas plants.

‘We have huge potential to benefit from carbon trading as we lessen the use of firewood, which releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere,’ said Thapa.

‘Around 80,000 biogas plants are in the process of getting approval for carbon trading by next year.’

Thapa said the proceeds would be used to install more plants, enabling the government to increase its carbon trading capacity further.

‘Many developing countries in Asia and Africa have used our expertise to promote biogas, and many others are asking for our help,’ said the BSP's Lamichhane.

‘Nepal has always been known as the land of mountains. Now, developing countries are calling us the land of biogas.’

Dawn

After UN pressure, Nepal agrees to probe "disappearances"

Nepal's Maoist-dominated government promised Saturday to establish a "disappearance commission" to investigate political killings that the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights says were perpetrated by communist insurgents fighting to overthrow the monarchy.

Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal spoke to the U.N. General Assembly on Saturday, telling other nations: "We have come a long way in terms of our transition from conflict."

"Like in every post-conflict situation, there are ups and downs and obstacles in the way. Managing the legacy of the violent past with justice and reconciliation and mainstreaming all the forces into a democratic order are major challenges before us," he said.

The prime minister promised that his government "is determined to establish a truth and reconciliation commission and a disappearance commission as a part of ensuring transitional justice and restoring social harmony and peace."

The pledge came a day after the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, Richard Bennett, released a letter demanding that the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) allow police to get to the bottom of several assassinations and a bus bombing.

The U.N. envoy's letter wanted answers to the killings of businessman Ram Hari Shrestha, journalist Birendra Shah and another victim, Arjun Lama, as well as a deadly bus bombing in June 2005 in Madi at killed some 50 people.

Bennett's letter said the three killings "are among those for which there is substantial evidence of Maoists' responsibility," naming Maoist Third Division Commander Kali Bahadur Kham as being allegedly involved in Shrestha's killing.

In the case of the bus bombing, Bennett said, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has claimed responsibility and identified the perpetrators, but no one has been punished and the Nepalese police seem unable to act without cooperation from the Maoist party.

"The practice of protecting and promoting alleged human rights violators, whether they are Nepal Army officers or members of UCPN-M, must end," Bennett wrote.

Nepal's government is preparing a report that says 16,274 people were killed in the country during the 10-year conflict between Maoist rebels and government troops that climaxed in 2006, officials recently said.

The Maoist rebels began their armed revolt in 1996 seeking an end to the monarchy and to establish a communist state. The rebels gave up their insurgency in 2006 and joined a peace process under U.N. supervision and ultimately became part of the political mainstream.

A communist-dominated Constituent Assembly voted in May 2008 to abolish the centuries-old monarchy and declared Nepal a republic and a secular state.

The UCPN-M contested elections last year and emerged as the largest political party in Nepal. They led a coalition government between September 2008 and May 2009.

Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned as prime minister over the president's refusal to dismiss the army chief, and a new coalition government took over in May.

Nepal beset by chaos and conjecture

By Dhruba Adhikari

KATHMANDU-- If the absence of war alone can be considered a sign of peace, then Nepal could provide a basis for optimism. But ground realities here suggest otherwise.

A recently released index from Foreign Policy depicted Nepal as 25th most likely nation to become a failed state, out of the 60 most vulnerable countries. The group found that conditions in Nepal are not as bad as Somalia, Afghanistan and Uganda, but more disturbing than in Lebanon, Burkina Faso and Colombia.

But Nepal's beleaguered Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal does not like to present himself as the leader of a trouble-torn country, with a work style that more suggests "business-as-usual". He departed the country on Sunday evening for New York, where he is scheduled to address the United Nations on Saturday.

Maoists are at the forefront of Nepal's upheaval. Unlike during the April uprising of 2006, when they abandoned a decade-long armed insurgency and entered the world of "competitive politics", the Maoist cadres are now carrying out attacks - both verbal and physical - on their rivals, leaving innocent people vulnerable and helpless.

The cadres are obviously executing orders from the Maoist leaders, who have publicly spoken about the need for another round of Jana-aandolan or popular movement. The chairman (and former prime minister) Prachanda and his deputy Baburam Bhattarai have begun arguing that a final push is needed to wipe out the remnants of feudalism associated with the monarchy, which was abolished in May 2008.

A manifestation of the Maoist resolve and determination to topple the "puppet regime" led by Nepal since May this year has surfaced on the streets of capital, Kathmandu and other parts of the country in recent weeks.

Much wrath is focused on President Ram Baran Yadav as well as Prime Minister Nepal and the ministers in his cabinet. They are greeted with black flags whenever they appear at public functions.
Maoists often try first to prevent such functions by placing roadblocks and engaging security personnel in fist-fights. If thisdoes not work, they sneak into the program venue and create chaos, pelting stones at the dais, shouting slogans and waving black scarves at the guests.

Last Wednesday, Maoist youths displayed insulting behavior towards Yadav when he was on tour at Lumbini, the birthplace of the Lord Buddha, as comrades in Kathmandu made the primeminister their target while he was conducting a university convocation. There, some dressed as gown-wearing graduates and threw stones on the stage as they jeered the prime minister. (The premier has faced the criticism that he is an "unelected leader" as he was twice defeated in April 2008 polls, but was made a nominated member of the assembly from where he was selected to the present post.)

The police briefly detained the protestors, including the daughter of Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai. Although no serious injuries were reported, it was a serious enough incident to challenge the state authority under the present dispensation.

Guns have not been used in any noticeable way thus far, but credible threats to use them abound. "Guns will be used to confront guns," said Bhattarai in a recent public meeting in his home district of Gorakha, in the western hills.

In the meantime, there was highly charged atmosphere as a war of words ensued between the prime minister and Maoist leader Prachanda. In Prachanda's view, the prime minister is like "a hangman". The prime minister countered by describing Prachanda as a "bloodthirsty tyrant".

The prime minister has tried to look confident as well as tough, despite the fact that some of his senior colleagues in his party, the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML), are not supportive of his belligerent approach towards the Maoists.

Earlier, the Maoists said they would boycott public functions, beginning on September 6, to be attended by the president, the prime minister and ministers. They have said the boycott is in protest against a nominated member being prime minister. They say the elected members - the Maoist former rebels emerged as the largest political party in a 2008 election for a special constituent assembly after their 2006 ceasefire - are being denied the opportunity to lead the transitional government entrusted with supervising Nepal's constitution-writing process.

Maoists have also made the boycott "active" by using disruptive measures. Suddenly, the state security apparatus looks overstretched in protecting the politicians in power. The Maoist leaders are trying to convince the public that whatever is being done is for the establishment of civilian supremacy, as opposed to military supremacy.

Yadav and the premier are being controversially dragged into this. The contention is that the president took an unconstitutional step by issuing an order to rescue the Nepal Army chief, who was sacked by the prime minister for having defied legitimate government orders.

Prachanda resigned immediately, in early May, from the primeminister's post in protest. No efforts, the Maoists argue, were made to address the issue they raised. On the contrary, they say, someone rejected by voters was made the leader of an artificial coalition of 22 parties and subsequently appointed prime minister. Opinions are divided and a court case is pending over the constitutionality of the presidential action.

Meanwhile, the Maoists have taken the case to the National Assembly, disrupting its proceedings for several weeks. They have registered a resolution there seeking a debate on the validity of the president's action. The speaker rejected the demand on technical grounds, providing them a constitutional option to initiate impeachment proceedings against the president.

The Maoists are not taking this course because they know they don't have the numerical strength, of two-thirds, in the 601-strong Constituent Assembly (which also acts as the interim parliament). Instead, they resorted to the controversial, although not unprecedented, method of stalling house business. Maoistmembers of the house, however, have not stopped collecting their allowances, even when they are not working.

The main task of the Constituent Assembly is to draw up a republican constitution to replace the present one, by the end of May 2010. Progress is visibly slow, and not only due to Maoist activities.

Inside the house, members are squabbling over the basis for creating federal units, official languages of the republic - and a move for legislative control of the judiciary, something unacceptable to all except the Maoists.

Last week, a question was raised about the national flag, which, some said, does not represent inclusiveness. "Are not the sun and the moon, depicted on the flag, giving light and shine to all ethnic communities without discrimination?" said Ganesh Pandit, who once worked as a member of parliament after the democratic restoration of 1990. Time, energy and resources are being wasted recklessly, accentuating the concerns of Nepal's friends and donors.

The issue of how to find an amicable solution before dismantlingthe United Nations-supervised cantonments where nearly 20,000 former Maoist combatants are sheltered is far from resolved. Whether a democratic statute can be drawn up and whether the election to be held afterwards would remain free and fair is a matter of serious concern to all stakeholders. The Maoists want their fighters integrated into the national army, but the army is hesitant to accept what is sees as a politically indoctrinated force into its midst.

Contemporary events and trends indicate that Nepal is unlikely to have a new constitution by the agreed deadline. All that the leaders of the main political parties appear to be doing now is to look for a convenient pretext so that blame for inaction can be placed on their rivals.

No one is serious about their original pledge to take the peace process to a logical conclusion. The pledge requires them to work together and not engage in a game played in peacetime politics, at least until the country has a new constitution.

The interim constitution has a provision to extend the life of the assembly up to six months in the event the country is placed under a state of emergency. There could be an attempt to invoke this provision as some of the members may be tempted to retain the perks and privileges they enjoy.

There is also a premonition of a "political accident" which could nullify the democratic gains made since 2006. The feared "accident" may result in presidential rule with the help of the army. Another possible option is direct rule by the army. Kamal Thapa, head of a pro-monarchist party, appears hopeful of even the restoration of the kingship. His party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, has four seats in the 601-member assembly.

The reaction of Nepal's immediate - as well as more distant - neighbors might be interesting should it be placed under another form of transition. Those placing importance on stability and order might not object. And those who are averse to seeing the Maoist phenomenon spreading in South Asia also may look at the development favorably.

Nepal's former "living goddess" in pension muddle

The fall of Nepal's monarchy has left a 12-year-old girl who served as a "living goddess" without a $40 monthly pension nearly a year after she retired.

When the king still governed Nepal, his staff had sanctioned documents for a pension for the outgoing "goddess", or Kumari, a position held according to centuries of tradition.

But since the 239-year-old monarchy was abolished last year and Nepal became a republic, permission for the money has not yet been granted.

"It is not clear who will approve the pension papers required for the payment now," said Tika Prasad Shrestha, chief of the office responsible for funds for religious and cultural events in the Hindu-majority nation.

"We have written to the government for instructions and once we receive them the money will be paid to her." The government started giving pensions to "ex-goddesses" eight years ago.

Kumaris are a big tourist attraction and are considered by many as incarnations of the goddess Kali. They are revered until they menstruate, after which they return to the family and a new one is chosen.

In the past Nepali kings have sought the blessings of the Kumari, who is chosen from a Buddhist Newar family and groomed as as the living goddess through rigorous training.

How the girl was selected is a secret. There are tales of the child requiring to spend a night in the dark to show her courage and walk through chopped heads of buffaloes.

Nepal became a republic last year after the election saw the former Maoist rebels score a surprise win and emerge as the biggest political party in a constituent assembly.

Nepal was plunged into crisis after the Maoists quit the government in May amid a conflict with the president who reversed a cabinet decision to fire the army chief.

U.N. presses Nepal for action on war missing

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - The U.N. human rights agency has pressed Nepal for action against perpetrators of "arbitrary detention, torture and disappearances" during the deadly civil war that ended in 2006.

A decade-long Maoist rebellion that started in 1996 caused more than 13,000 deaths and displaced thousands, while the fate of hundreds of others who went missing is still unknown three years after peace with the former rebels.

Human rights groups have accused both the military and the Maoists of abuses during the war.

In two separate reports released in 2006 and 2008, the U.N. human rights office in Nepal had said 219 people had disappeared from just two places - Bardiya district in southwest Nepal and the Maharajgunj army barracks in Kathmandu.

The reports blamed 14 of these disappearances on the Maoists and the rest on the military.

"No action has been taken to properly investigate these human rights violations," the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Nepal said in a statement late on Sunday.

The OHCHR expressed "particular concern" about recent nominations for extension or promotion of senior army personnel in the chain-of-command at the time that violations took place.

Rewarding personnel against whom "there are credible allegations of involvement in human rights violations... will undermine any genuine efforts of the government to address impunity", said Richard Bennett, OHCHR-Nepal chief.

Government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Maoist former rebels emerged as the largest political party in last year's election for a special constituent assembly after their 2006 ceasefire, but in May they quit in a conflict with the president who reversed their decision to sack the national army chief.

Nepal PM to present Obama with Everest rock

KATHMANDU — Nepal's prime minister will present a piece of rock from Mount Everest to US President Barack Obama to highlight the impact of climate change on the Himalayas, the premier's aide said Sunday.

"Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal will hand over pieces of Everest rocks to US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to raise concern about global warming on the Himalayas," Bishnu Rijal, the premier's press advisor, told AFP.

The prime minister is heading to the US on Sunday evening to attend the UN General Assembly and the Climate Change Summit of the United Nations in New York next week.

Environmental campaigners refer to the Himalayas as the "Third Pole" and say the melting glaciers are the biggest potential contributors to rising sea levels after the North and South Poles.

While addressing the UN General Assembly, Nepal will inform the international community about the country's political situation and the ongoing peace process, according to Rijal.

Former rebel Maoists ended their decade-long bloody insurgency after striking a peace deal with the then-government in 2006.

Nepal took charge of the world's youngest republic in May after Maoist leader Prachanda resigned as prime minister in a row over the head of the army, plunging the nation into political chaos.

The coalition government that took over Nepal in May is widely seen as weak because it does not include the Maoists, the biggest party in parliament.

Nepal's political stalemate

Demonstration effect

Having walked out, the Maoists try to march back in

LIGHTING Kathmandu with torches by night, protesters have been darkening it by day. Wherever Madhav Kumar Nepal, the prime minister, and his cabinet go, they are greeted by angry Maoists brandishing black flags. A political stand-off is worsening, threatening the fragile peace that has prevailed in Nepal since the end in 2006 of the Maoists’ ten-year insurgency.

September 11th saw the biggest demonstration since May, when Pushpa Kamal Dahal (formerly known as Prachanda), the Maoist leader, resigned as prime minister and took his party into opposition. In a speech to a flag-waving crowd of about 15,000, many in red bandannas, he recalled the 40 demands he made in 2006 to the then government. Its mistake, he said, was to ignore them. Now he has 45.

The implied threat of renewed insurrection may be a bluff. But it shows how bad the Maoists’ relations with Mr Nepal’s ruling coalition have become. Mr Dahal had two objectives: to placate restive party activists still waiting for a revolution; and to leave room for a negotiated outcome.

The Maoists have been protesting ever since May. Mr Dahal resigned when he was thwarted in his attempt to sack the army chief, General Rookmangud Katawal, over his refusal to accept the integration of some 20,000 former Maoist fighters into the national army. General Katawal, who has since retired, was reinstated by the president. The Maoists allege this was unconstitutional and have been demanding a parliamentary debate about it.

The chances of a return to war remain slight. But Mr Nepal’s fragile 22-party coalition is running out of time to find a compromise, as the Maoists, who have blockaded parliament since May, step up their protests, and demonstrate at every government event. In some districts they have begun to set up parallel local governments. This week a Maoist-affiliated trade union shut some private secondary schools across the country for four days. In Kathmandu riot police have responded to protests with bamboo sticks and tear-gas.

Having marginalised themselves, the Maoists now want to lead the government again. They won more seats than any other party in last year’s elections for the constituent assembly. Many analysts believe their inclusion in government is essential for the peace process. But they are not satisfied with a partnership in the coalition, which is all Mr Nepal’s ruling centre-left party has offered them so far. Mr Nepal has also accused the Maoists of trying to split both his party and the coalition. It is just possible that the Maoists will agree to join the coalition under a leader other than Mr Nepal, and that talks due as The Economist was going to press, between the Maoists and the two biggest parties in the ruling coalition, break the deadlock.

Despite the political stalemate, some ground has been made in recent weeks. The constituent assembly, which is supposed to write a constitution for the young republic, has managed to elect a new chairman for the main drafting committee, suspended since May. And the Maoists, who say they will not block the peace process, have agreed to sit on the committee responsible for merging the armies, which intends to complete the job in six months. But it has yet to agree on if or how the former fighters are to be integrated into the army. Until it does, and until a way is found to bring the Maoists back into government, a durable peace will remain elusive.

‘CLIMATE SMART’ WORLD WITHIN REACH, SAYS WORLD BANK

South Asian Countries Face Daunting Climate-Related Development Challenges

If developed countries act now, a ‘climate-smart’ world is feasible, and the costs for getting there will be high but still manageable, says a new World Bank report released today. High-income countries also need to act quickly to reduce their carbon footprints and boost development of alternative energy sources to help tackle the problem of climate change.

World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change, released in advance of the December meetings on climate change in Copenhagen, says that advanced countries, which produced most of the greenhouse gas emissions of the past, must act to shape our climate future. Developing countries can shift to lower-carbon paths while promoting development and reducing poverty, but this depends on financial and technical assistance from high-income countries. A key way to do this is by ramping up funding for mitigation in developing countries, where most future growth in emissions will occur.

“The countries of the world must act now, act together and act differently on climate change,” said World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick. "Developing countries are disproportionately affected by climate change – a crisis that is not of their making and for which they are the least prepared. For that reason, an equitable deal in Copenhagen is vitally important.”

Countries need to act now because today’s decisions determine both the climate of tomorrow and the choices that shape the future. Countries need to act together because no one nation can take on the interconnected challenges posed by climate change, and global cooperation is needed to improve energy efficiencies and develop new technologies. Countries need to act differently, because we cannot plan for the future based on the climate of the past.

Developing countries will bear most of the costs of the damage from climate change. Many people in developing countries live in physically exposed locations and economically precarious conditions, and their financial and institutional capacity to adapt is limited, says the report. Already, policymakers in some developing countries note that an increasing amount of their development budget is being diverted to cope with weather-related emergencies.

Geography coupled with high levels of poverty and population density make countries in the South Asia region particularly vulnerable to climate change. The report says that that global warming of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial temperatures — the minimum the world is likely to experience — could result in permanent reductions in GDP of 4 to 5 percent for South Asia.

The region’s water resources are likely to be affected by climate change, through its effect on the monsoon, which provides 70 percent of annual precipitation in a four-month period, and on the melting of Himalayan glaciers, particularly in the western end of the range.

Rising sea levels are also of important concern in South Asia, which has long and densely populated coastlines, agricultural plains threatened by saltwater intrusion, and many low-lying islands. In more severe climate-change scenarios, rising seas would submerge much of the Maldives and inundate 18 percent of Bangladesh’s land.

Agricultural productivity is one of many factors driving the greater vulnerability of developing countries. Extrapolating from past year- to- year variations in climate and agricultural outcomes, yields of major crops in India are projected to decline by 4.5 to 9 percent within the next three decades, even allowing for short- term adaptations. The report says the implications of such climate change for poverty — and GDP — could be enormous given projected population growth and high dependence of livelihoods on rain-fed agriculture in the South Asia region.

At the same time, the report notes that 1.6 billion people in the developing world lack access to electricity. In India alone, more than 400 million people do not have electricity. Those developing countries—whose average per capita emissions are a fraction of those of high-income countries—need massive expansions in energy, transport, urban systems, and agricultural production. Increasing access to energy and other services using high-carbon technologies will produce more greenhouse gases, hence more climate change.

India faces tremendous challenges in substantially altering its emissions path given its relatively efficient economy and limited endowment of clean energy resources and for carbon storage sites, the report says. India relies heavily on coal, which accounts for 53 percent of its commercial energy demand. Large potential exists, however, for improving energy efficiency and reducing transmission and distribution losses.

The report finds, however, that existing low-carbon technologies and best practices could reduce energy consumption significantly, saving money. For example, the report notes that it is possible to cut energy consumption in industry and the power sector by 20–30 percent, helping reduce carbon footprints without sacrificing growth. In addition, many changes required to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases also deliver significant benefits in environmental sustainability, public health, energy security, and financial savings. Avoided deforestation, for instance, preserves watersheds and protects biodiversity, while forests can effectively serve as a carbon sink.

With costs of renewable energy declining over the past two decades, wind, geothermal, and hydro power are already or nearly cost- competitive with fossil fuels, the report says. Thanks to innovation and technology diffusion, wind is now powering the first stages of what could become an energy revolution. And although most installed wind capacity is in Europe and the United States, the pattern is shifting. In 2008, India and China each installed more wind capacity than any other country except the United States and together they host nearly 20 percent of the world’s capacity.

Solving the climate problem requires a transformation of the world’s energy systems in the coming decades. Research and Development investments on the order of US$100 - $700 billion annually will be needed—a major increase from the modest $13 billion a year of public funds and $40 billion to $60 billion a year of private funds currently invested.

Developing countries, particularly the poorest and most exposed, will need assistance in adapting to the changing climate. Bangladesh, for example, is among the world’s most exposed countries to rising sea levels. Bangladesh is already doing much to reduce the vulnerability of its population. It has invested in a highly effective community-based early warning system for cyclones and a flood forecasting and a response program drawing on local and international expertise. But the scope of possible adaptation is limited by resources — its annual per capita income is $450.

Climate finance must be greatly expanded, since current funding levels fall far short of foreseeable needs. Climate Investment Funds (CIFs), managed by the World Bank and implemented jointly with regional developing banks, offer one opportunity for leveraging support from advanced countries, since these funds can buy-down the costs of low-carbon technologies in developing countries.

“Developing countries face 75-80 percent of the potential damage from climate change. They urgently need help to prepare for drought, floods, and rising sea levels. They also need to intensify agricultural productivity, contain malnutrition and disease, and build climate-resilient infrastructure,” said Justin Lin, World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President, Development Economics.

The current financial crisis cannot be an excuse to put climate on the back burner, the report warns. While financial crises may cause serious hardship and reduce growth over the short- to medium-term, they rarely last more than a few years. The threat of a warming climate is far more severe and long-lasting.

The earth’s warming climate is making the challenge of development more complicated, even as one in four people still live on less than $1.25 a day, and over a billion people do not have sufficient food to meet their daily basic nutritional needs.

“Grappling with climate shocks that are already hampering development will not be easy. But promising new energy technologies can vastly reduce future greenhouse gas emissions and prevent catastrophic climate change. We also need to manage our farms, forests, and water resources to ensure a sustainable future,” said Rosina Bierbaum, WDR co-director and Dean of the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment.

“The good news is that a climate-smart world is within reach if we work together now to overcome inertia, keep costs down, and modify our energy, food, and risk management systems to ensure a safer future for everybody,” said Marianne Fay, WDR co-director and Chief Economist for Sustainable Development at the World Bank.

“There are real opportunities to shape our climate future for an inclusive and sustainable globalization, but we need a new momentum for concerted action on climate issues before it is too late,” said Robert B. Zoellick, World Bank Group President.

The World Bank Group’s "Strategic Framework for Development and Climate Change" puts emphasis on including mitigation and adaptation initiatives in its lending, while recognizing that developing countries need to encourage economic growth and reduce poverty.

The number of World Bank-financed studies that help client countries plan and implement low-carbon growth strategies are also growing, and the Bank Group’s energy financing is increasingly turning towards renewable energies and energy efficiency. Over the past three years, approximately two-thirds of the Bank Group’s total energy financing was in the area of non-fossil fuels whereas around one-third was for fossil fuels, of which half was for natural gas.

Nepal's capital suffers festival goat shortage

KATHMANDU — With just days to go before Nepal's biggest religious festival of the year, the capital Kathmandu is suffering a severe shortage of goats for ritual sacrifice, the government said Tuesday.

As a result, the government food agency has ordered officials to travel to the countryside and buy up goats to be brought into the capital, where they will be sold for slaughter to mark the main Hindu festival of Dashain.

"Kathmandu city faces a shortage of goats during the festival, which always brings a high demand for goat meat," Bijaya Thapa, deputy general manager at the Nepal Food Corporation, told AFP.

"We are bringing goats in to ease the supply and to control dramatic price hikes."

Goats and other animals are traditionally slaughtered during the 15-day festival, which begins on September 19, to appease the Hindu goddess of power, Durga.

Officials have been tasked with persuading farmers to sell their livestock in rural areas, where the government has posted adverts calling on people to sell their goats.

Thapa said the price of the animals had risen by around 25 percent in the capital as the festival approached, and the government was hoping to bring in around 6,000 of them.

"Our staff have been mobilised across the country to search for goats to prepare for the festival," he said, adding that the government would sell them at below market rates.

"Around 240 goats have already reached Kathmandu and we are expecting more in the coming days."

The government organised a similar initiative last year, but failed to meet its target of 4,000 goats, bringing just 2,300 into the capital.

U.S. to help restoration of ancient Nepal palace

KATHMANDU\(Reuters) - The United States will provide Nepal $900,000 in grants to restore one of its major tourist attractions, a rundown complex of old buildings in the neighbouring town of Patan, the U.S. embassy said on Monday.

It said the money from U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation would be used for the restoration of the Patan Royal Palace, one of South Asia's finest and most intact historical urban royal ensembles dating back to 17th and 18th centuries.

"The most significant impacts of this restoration project include fostering increased understanding between cultures, the creation of a world-class institution furthering knowledge of Nepalese culture, local training and education, and economic development," the U.S. embassy said in a statement.

Washington is a key donor to the Himalayan nation.

Tourism is a mainstay of Nepal's impoverished economy and accounts four percent of the gross domestic product.

The mountainous nation abolished its 239-year-old monarchy and turned into a republic after the former Maoist rebels emerged as the single largest party in last year's election for a special constituent assembly.

The Patan Royal Palace, a popular tourist site in the hill ringed Kathmandu, is one of the three locations to receive the grant from the Fund established to support the preservation of cultural sites, objects and collections around the world.

Other two are the Sacred City of Caral in Peru and the Monastery of the Holy Mother of God Peribleptos in Ohrid, Macedonia, it said.

Poor infrastructure hampers Nepal’s fight against cholera

A few people were hurriedly extracting logs from a funeral pyre when police arrived at a remote village in Nepal’s Jajarkot district. Villagers told the police that the body belonged to a woman whose daughter was also about to die, so they were saving some of the wood for her pyre.

The police walked for two hours to find the girl struggling for life against the symptoms of cholera. They took her to the nearest health centre, a further five-hour walk. She survived with the help of 62 bottles of saline and medicine.

Nepal’s cholera and diarrhoea epidemics, largely unnoticed by the outside world, have quietly killed more than 280 poor villagers in hamlets mostly reachable only on foot or mule since the outbreak began three months ago. Medical teams hesitate to go to remote villages as there is a lack of security, weak infrastructure and shortages of food for residents, let alone for visitors.

”It’s very difficult for the government to reach individual homes to treat the sick,” said Dr. Sudha Sharma of the health ministry. “They should at least be brought to the nearest health centre. But [villagers] bring the sick only when it is too late.”

The UN organisations and other aid groups have been working through partner organisations in the field, but as Ugochi Daniels, UN Population Fund deputy representative, said, “The number one challenge in providing assistance is access to the affected areas.”

A lack of community awareness about the causes of cholera is a major mitigating factor of the epidemic. Villagers defecate in open areas, drink water straight from streams carrying waste from upriver settlements, do not wash hands before eating, and have little sense of personal hygiene or sanitation. With harvest season underway, villagers who remain healthy are focused on tending to their fields and less able to care for ailing family members.

Dr. Badri Narsingh, president of the Medical Association of Nepal, has criticised the government for not taking the cholera issue seriously and undertaking strong awareness building campaigns.

There has also been very limited coordination of supply and distribution of medicines and materials. ”There are no complete sets of equipment at health centres to treat the patients. I think the government has not done as much as it could have,” said a doctor sent to the affected area.

The problem is also being manipulated for political gain by various groups.

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which launched a bloody 10-year revolt from the districts now most affected by epidemics, has also been critical of the government, which the party led until May.

”The government should take the reins to control this epidemic. If not, they should let us take charge,” said Lokendra Bahadur Bista, a Maoist legislator from Jajarkot. He said the party has mobilised 1,300 cadres in the district to transport medicine and raise health awareness.

INSEC, a local human rights group, claimed that the UN World Food Programme caused the cholera epidemic by distributing rotten rice and lentils. The government and most observers however trace the outbreak to contaminated water and Robert Ragan, the WFP’s local representative insisted that all food the group provided was safe.

Recently the government has claimed success in slowing the spread of the epidemic. However, Raj Kumar Dangi, a Jajarkot leader, said, “As the area is experiencing a change of weather from the rainy season to fall, the temperature in the mountainous region has gone down significantly, which has helped in controlling the disease.”

Patience wearing thin for Nepal's Maoist army left in limbo

The silence is broken by a barked “Attention!” and the thunder of jackboots hitting the ground. It is 7am and 4,600 soldiers of the Third Division of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of Nepal stand rigid in the freezing fog. A proven fighting force, still classified as a terrorist organisation by the United States, they bear model wooden Kalashnikovs.

The same, slightly bizarre, routine has been repeated daily since December 2006, when these guerrillas defeated the Royal Army of Nepal’s now-ousted monarchy, ending a ten-year civil war that claimed 13,000 lives.

As part of the peace deal, 19,000 Maoist troops agreed to be confined to 28 UN-monitored cantonments, their weapons locked away. The measure was supposed to be temporary, but the 95,000-strong Royal Army, renamed the Nepalese Army after the country became a republic, has refused to accept even one “indoctrinated Maoist” into its ranks.

Nearly three years on, despite seeing their political wing emerge as the largest party in general elections last year, the Maoist cadres find themselves in limbo, an extra army whose existence is regarded as a threat to Nepal’s political stability. The sense of frustration in Jutpani, about 90 miles southeast of Kathmandu, where the Third Division is confined, is palpable.

“We are not a toy army that you can treat any way you like,” says Jigmi, 24, who joined the Maoists at 18. “We entered the peace process voluntarily. We allowed the UN to supervise our weapons, and we have participated and won general elections, yet we still aren’t trusted.”

He switches on the music player on his comrade’s mobile phone. The handset blares: “Snoop Dogg would like to say/That I’m a crazy motherf*****r when I’m playing with my AK.”

If the soldiers of the Third Division were to choose a soundtrack for themselves, it would probably be American gangsta rap. Most of the troops are young and excitable. Snoop Dog, the American hip-hop artist with a penchant for guns, drugs and women, is an idol. Recently, their comrades in other parts of the country have shown signs that their patience is wearing thin. Two weeks ago 19 Maoist soldiers drove from their camp with weapons in the Kapilvastu district, breaking the terms of the peace deal and provoking a warning from the UN.

They said they planned to escort their political leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, formerly known as Prachanda. Until May he was Nepal’s Prime Minister but resigned after failing in his attempt to fire the head of the Army for not recruiting Maoist fighters.

In the Third Division camp, a commander suggested his forces could easily take matters into their own hands. “It is a lie that we handed over our weapons,” he said, referring to the cache of arms kept in containers at the barracks’ perimeter. “The UN has no key; the Royal Army has no key; I have the key.”

International monitors say that the PLA must be dealt with if Nepal — a desperately poor country that has had 18 governments since 1990 — is not to lurch into another crisis.

Karin Landgren, head of the United Nations Mission in Nepal, said: “There is broad recognition that the continued presence in the country of two armies is one of the most significant outstanding issues of the peace process.”

The Times

Nepal Maoists vow return to power

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoists will launch street protests in a campaign to return to power and conclude a stalled peace process that brought them into the political mainstream, their leader said on Wednesday.

The former rebels and the government have been in a political stalemate over the firing of the army chief earlier this year, which has stalled implementation of a landmark 2006 peace deal that ended a decade-long civil war.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, said the Maoists were committed to peace and an early conclusion to the deal.

But they must be allowed to form the government again to oversee the drafting of a new constitution, the final part of the peace deal, said Prachanda, who quit as prime minister in May after the president reversed his decision to fire the army chief.

"Our party firmly stands in favour of the peace process and in favour of the constitution-making process," he said in an interview on Wednesday at his heavily guarded home in Kathmandu.

"The whole process of change is directly related with our party ... and the people have, through democratic election, given us the responsibility to lead this process," he said.

Some "dogmatic people" were trying to derail the peace process and provoke the Maoists into quitting it, he said.

But a new constitution, which must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the assembly, was not possible without the support of the Maoists, who control nearly 40 percent of the assembly seats, he said.

The Maoists became Nepal's largest political group after last year's election for a special constituent assembly, which is tasked with writing a new constitution. They abolished the 239-year-old monarchy and turned the Himalayan nation into a republic.

These were "far-reaching and historic changes", said the bespectacled Prachanda, 54, seated on a couch under a map of Nepal and a war-time photograph of him holding a burning torch.

The Maoists, who still appear on a U.S. list of terrorist organisations, are criticised by mainstream parties for continuing violence and intimidation against political rivals, which they say undermines their commitment to democracy.

But Prachanda dismissed these charges: "How can any people suspect our intention of democracy?" he said.

"We have come to the peace process. We entered into the electoral process and we became the single largest party."

Tiny, impoverished Nepal is also taking care to nurture its political relations with influential neighbours China and India.

Last year, Prachanda visited China to attend the closing ceremony of the summer Olympic Games, breaking a tradition of new Nepali leaders making New Delhi their first foreign port of call.

India and China, two of the world's fastest growing economies, were studying the "whole dynamics" of change in Nepal and were competing to influence the process, Prachanda said.

"We don't want to tilt towards anyone. We want to maintain equidistance and benefit from the development they've achieved."

By Gopal Sharma for Reuters

Climate change threatens water, food security of 1.6bn South Asians

Melting Himalayan glaciers and other climate change impacts pose a direct threat to the water and food security of more than 1.6 billion people in South Asia, according to preliminary findings of a new study financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Analyzing current trends and scenarios based on projected temperature increases, the study warns that four countries in South Asia – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal – are particularly vulnerable to falling crop yields caused by glacier retreat, floods, droughts, erratic rainfall and other climate change impacts.

"South Asia's vulnerability to climate change has extremely serious implications for agriculture and therefore food security," Kunio Senga, Director General of ADB's South Asia Department, said today after a major climate change conference in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu.

Produced by the International Food Policy Research Institute, the study, "Addressing Climate Change in the Asia and Pacific Region: Building Climate Resilience in the Agriculture Sector", will be officially launched by ADB on the sidelines of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in Bangkok in late September.

The study warns that if current trends persist until 2050, the yields of irrigated crops in South Asia will decrease significantly – maize (-17%), wheat (-12%) and rice (-10%) – because of climate change-induced heat and water stress. Resulting food scarcity will lead to higher prices and reduced caloric intake across the region. Under this scenario, per capital calorie availability in 2050 will be below levels recorded in the year 2000.

Almost half of the world's absolute poor live in South Asia, where they tend to depend on rain-fed agriculture and live in settlements that are highly exposed to climate variability.

The study outlines a range of agricultural adaptation measures that can significantly reduce the region's vulnerability to climate change impacts. These include investments in irrigation expansion and water resource management, farm-to-market roads, and agriculture research and dissemination.

The conference – organized by the Government of Nepal in collaboration with ADB, the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the World Bank – was held to reach a consensus on key issues to be raised by South Asia governments during climate change talks in Copenhagen in December.

Senior delegations from environment ministries in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended the 31 August to 1 September event.