Nepal elected Governing Council member at APCTT

Nepal – along with eight ther member states – has been elected Governing Council member of the Asian and Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT) for three-year term from 2020 to 2023 during the 76th session of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) today.
APCTT is a United Nations Regional Institution under the ESCAP, reads a press note issued by Nepal’s Embassy in Bangkok. “APCTT promotes transfer of technology to and from small- and medium-scale enterprises in Asia and the Pacific.”
Nepal's election to the Governing Council member of the APCTT – for the first time after more than six years – confirmed ambassador of Nepal to Thailand and Permanent Representative to the UNESCAP Ganesh Prasad Dhakal, who led the Nepali delegation to the virtual 76th Commission Session. The session adopted two resolutions on ‘Strengthening cooperation to promote the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific’ and the second on ‘Regional cooperation to address the socioeconomic effects of pandemics and crises in Asia and the Pacific’.
While delivering a brief statement in the session, ambassador Dhakal highlighted the impact of Covid-19 pandemic on the national economy and underscored the need of enhanced level of support and cooperation to the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS to strengthen their resilience.
The next year's Commission Session will be held in Bangkok from April 26 to April 30 on the theme of ‘Building back better from crises through regional cooperation in Asia and the Pacific’.
The governments of Asia and the Pacific meeting today also agreed to pursue coordinated and decisive actions, as well as reinforce regional and global cooperation in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Endorsing a resolution at the 76th Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (CS76), they declared profound solidarity and vouched to provide unimpeded support and technical assistance to those most affected, particularly in developing countries with weaker health systems and vulnerable populations.
“Governments and leaders are grappling with a wide range of challenges that risk recent progress in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said opening the meeting. “Many countries are charting a solid course toward Covid-19 solutions, but millions in the region remain highly vulnerable and at risk,” he said, adding that the world has an opportunity to build back better on the foundations of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
“When addressing the health crisis, countries face an unprecedented dilemma: the need to balance measures to contain the pandemic against those for socio-economic recovery,” United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) Armida Alisjahbana said, adding that in order to support countries in building back better, refocusing our work is necessary. She further highlighted three priority areas – supporting economic recovery, protecting people and enhancing resilience, and restoring supply chains and supporting small and medium enterprises, while urging countries to align policies with environmental protection and climate action.
Deliberations this year focused on the theme ‘Promoting economic, social and environmental cooperation on oceans for sustainable development.’ Towards this end, countries endorsed a resolution to conserve and sustainably use oceans and marine resources in the region. The resolution calls for countries to strengthen regional cooperation and redouble efforts to reduce marine pollution, improve ocean data and statistics, and support sustainable maritime connectivity. Countries also agreed to boost public-private and civil society partnerships in the sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism to increase economic benefits for small island developing States and least developed countries.

Commodity-dependent developing countries need financial and technical support

Economic and export diversification is the best response to the challenges posed by climate change in developing countries that depend on commodities, according to UNCTAD’s Commodities and Development Report 2019.
The diversification could be horizontal, which entails venturing into new goods and sectors to reduce dependence on a narrow range of commodities, or vertical, which involves moving the value chain of a commodity up to increase its worth, says the report ‘Commodity Dependence, Climate Change and the Paris Agreement’.
According to the report, a successful diversification strategy will likely include a combination of horizontal policies, such as strengthening human capital through investments in education and health, and targeted measures to promote individual sectors.
“The climate crisis poses an existential threat to commodity-dependent developing countries and will result in the collapse of some economies if decisive action is not taken now,” UNCTAD secretary general Mukhisa Kituyi said, adding that now more than ever before, these countries need to assess their diversification potential and reduce their commodity dependence, which for decades has kept them exposed to volatile markets and climate change.
Although commodity-dependent developing countries contribute only modestly to climate change, the climate crisis puts them at most risk. They are more vulnerable primarily because they are economically dependent on sectors that are highly exposed to extreme weather events, the report reads. “Small island developing states (SIDS) are among the worst affected.”
Rising sea surface temperatures pose significant risks to the SIDS that derive a large share of their merchandise export earnings from fisheries, such as Kiribati (88 per cent in 2013–2017), Maldives (79 per cent) and the Federated States of Micronesia (75 per cent).
The negative effects of climate change on crop and fisheries production are more severe in low-latitude regions, where most commodity-dependent developing countries are located, the report observes.
Equally at risk are high-income, fossil-fuel-dependent countries, such as Brunei Darussalam, Kuwait and Qatar, which have some of the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions per capita. They could be profoundly affected by the stranding of their major natural resource as a result of the growing push towards greener sources of energy, the report adds.
The report also underscores that the high risk faced by commodity-dependent developing countries reinforces their need to adapt, diversify and modernise their economies. They must also adapt to the effects of the climate response measures undertaken by other countries, which are expected to reduce the demand for some key commodities on which they depend.
Tackling climate change presents some opportunities to commodity-dependent developing countries, according to the report that also notes that the global push towards renewable energy and energy efficiency creates opportunities in countries with large reserves of materials used in clean technologies, such as solar photovoltaic cells, wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries.
Fighting climate change could also create opportunities to boost production of alternatives to cattle meat and milk, the report says. It points out the case of livestock in some drylands in Africa, where increased drought frequency and declining feed availability have encouraged pastoralists to adopt camels to supplement or replace cattle.
According to the report, the quest for climate mitigation and adaptation has spurred investments in technological innovations that could benefit commodity-dependent countries. One example is the adoption of cost-efficient solar photovoltaic cells, which could bolster energy security and support commodity sectors in remote areas that are not connected to national power grids.
The report echoes warnings from experts that commitments made by countries to mitigate climate change under the Paris Agreement are not ambitious enough. The commitments need to quadruple to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, the report notes, making clear that adopting a higher ambition in the implementation of countries’ climate commitments will require stronger political will and greater mobilisation of financial and human resources. “It underlines that climate-related funding, which is currently only a fraction of actual requirements, needs to be substantially scaled up given the high cost of climate change mitigation and adaptation.”
For example, the total cost of implementation of climate action plans for 80 developing countries that have specified their financing needs is estimated at $5.4 trillion, the report notes. “This is the order of magnitude of the total amount spent on energy subsidies every year in the world.”
In addition, the report states that greening fiscal policies can help to ensure taxes, subsidies and similar policy instruments contribute to the implementation of climate action plans and the achievement of the sustainable development goals. It suggests reforming fossil fuel subsidies to further green fiscal policies. It is estimated that the wealthiest 20 per cent of households in developing countries receive 43 per cent of the benefits from fossil fuel subsidies, while the poorest 20 per cent get only 7 per cent.
Also, the capacities of commodity-dependent developing countries to undertake climate actions need to be strengthened, according to the report. This includes building technical and regulatory capacities to design institutions and implement policies to support mitigation and adaptation strategies.
Further, developed countries need to meet their commitment under the Paris Agreement to transfer environmentally friendly technologies to developing countries to help them effectively participate in global efforts to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.