On 26 November 2021, Amnesty International Nepal organized a workshop on Climate Change and Human Rights to its selected members. Fifty-two participants from across the country attended the workshop organized in Bhaktapur.
The workshop aimed to inform the Amnesty members on climate change, its causes, its impacts on nature and ecosystem, and the actions we can take to mitigate and adapt with the risks of climate change.
Manjeet Dhakal, the Advisor to the Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) for the multilateral process of the UNFCC, Sagarika Bhatta, Founder of Power Shift Nepal, Milan Dhungana, Under Secretary at Climate Change Management Division at the Ministry of Forest and Environment, and Kamala Thapa Magar from the Centre for Indigenous People’s Research and Development (CIPRED) delivered their presentations as resource persons for the event.
The workshop concluded with lively discussions on how climate change relates to human rights, and how marginalized communities are disproportionately affected by climate change. The participants also had questions on the government’s strategy to tackle climate change and the effective implementation of the strategy. The participants understood and internalized the urgency and seriousness of the issue and the need to take action and make changes in our approach and behaviour, including through adopting measures to phase out the use of fossil fuels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and shifting towards renewable energy and an approach of sustainable development while keeping the human rights at the centre of these measures.