Adopt mitigation and adaptation strategies to reduce cost of climate change
The World Bank said in its ‘Country Climate and Development Report’ in September that Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to be reduced by seven percent in 2050 solely due to climate change. According to the global lender, climate change is visibly impacting Nepal with the country being ranked the 10th most affected country in the world, according to the Climate Risk Index. Considering the effect of rising temperatures on crop yields, the GDP is projected to shrink by between 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent through 2030 across warming scenarios, the World Bank said in its Nepal Development Update Report released in early October. Likewise, the country is likely to see severe damages to infrastructure due to rising incidents of flooding caused by the warming climate, according to the report. At an interaction on the Nepal Development Update organised by the World Bank on October 31, 2022 experts said that Nepal not only needed to contribute to reduce carbon emissions but the adaptation process should also move forward simultaneously. The government has adopted the policy of promoting electric ovens and electric vehicles. Nepal, the economist, said that electric cooking could be an alternative to the increasing use of Liquified Petroleum Gas in the country’s urban areas.