Water & energy

This report presents the integrated case study for Nepal carried out under an OECD project on Development and Climate Change. The report is structured around a three-tier framework. First, recent climate trends and climate change scenarios for Nepal are assessed, and key sectoral impacts are identified and ranked along multiple indicators to establish priorities for adaptation. Second, donor portfolios in Nepal are analyzed to examine the proportion of donor activities affected by climate risks.

Rivers are significant geomorphological agent, which shows diversity of form and behavior and quickly respond to disturbances acting against their system. The Bagmati River of the Kathmandu Valley originates from eastern hill Nagarkot in Sudal is the 7th order drainage and stretches about 51 km and flows over the Valley covering 678 km2 of watershed. This river have been suffering from unmanaged urbanization and industrialization, growing population pressure on catchment of river causes destruction of natural phenomenon of river.

Concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) has been increasing since the middle of 19th century. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimated an increase of global GHG emissions by 25 to 90 % between 2000 and 2030. The global average surface temperature is expected to increase between 1.8 and 4.0 °C and precipitation by 5 to 20 % from 1990 to 2100. Understanding potential hydrologic influences of projected climate change is important for management of water resources.