Reported end date passed· Climate· WASH

ROAP/NEP04 Urban Ecosystem-based Adaptation for Climate-resilient Development in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (Urban EbA)

Nepal is globally ranked the 20th most multi-hazard-prone country and one of the high-risk countries in terms of vulnerability to climate change impacts . From 1971 through 2014, Nepal experienced an average annual temperature increase of 0.06°C. Studies confirm that Nepal is highly likely to experience an increasing trend of frequent extreme climatic events, such as cloud bursts leading to severe floods, increased incidences of drought phenomena, high temperatures, and rapid glacial retreats. Climate change impacts contribute significantly to Nepal’s Economic Vulnerability Index; at the same time, it is one of the least ready countries to adapt to these impacts. Nepal has been undergoing rapid urbanization. However, urbanization has been unplanned and haphazard at the cost of the natural environment; impacting ecosystems integrity and their services, including water, clean air, temperature regulation, and food security. Unplanned and haphazard urbanization lacks risk-sensitive and pro-poor urban planning, resulting in new exposure to weather and climate-induced hazards (for people and infrastructure). Hence, there is a need for durable solutions to cope with and adapt to climate change impacts in the urban context of Kathmandu Valley. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) is evolving as one of the impactful adaptation strategies for climate risk resilience building in Nepal. EbA measures can help ecosystems recover, sustain, and thrive, thereby helping the people depending on their services to be resilient in the face of rising risks of climate change. The climate policies of the Government of Nepal espouse the EbA as an approach to fight climate change. The project “Urban Ecosystem-based Adaptation for Climate-resilient Development in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal” (Urban EbA) through GEF- Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) aims to build the resilience of the local communities in the Kathmandu Valley to increasing impacts of climate change, such as flooding, landslides, and drought. The project interventions aim to mainstreaming eBA into planning frameworks, budgeting and implementation mechanisms of the KVDA and five target municipalities, as a demonstration to decrease the climate-induced impacts, particularly urban flood, pollution, drought, heat. While the project duration was 2019 -2022, the project implementation was delayed for various reasons, COVID-19 being the major one. Hence, the project has been extended until December 2025 and 6 months of 2026 for reporting. KVDA and UNEP have sought UN-Habitat Nepal to provide technical assistance to deliver three outputs that will provide catalytic support to expedite the implementation of the Urban eBA project. The collaboration with UN-Habitat has been formally approved by the Project Steering Committee, chaired by the Secretary of the Ministry of Urban Development, based on the national level capacity of UN-Habitat in the urban development and climate change sector and further at the regional level, UN-Habitat’s extensive engagement on urban EbA in the Asia Pacific region on capacity building and implementing the Urban EbA projects. In this regard, UN-Habitat will collaborate with UNEP and KVDA to provide technical support to deliver three specific outputs: 1. Training Materials to build the capacity of Executing Agencies and Partners 2. Conduct Climate Risk aynd Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) and Prepare Technical Guidelines on Urban EbA interventions 3. Policy Review for EbA mainstreaming and entry points at KVDA and the local levels

Source-reported status: active. Timeline labels use reported dates and do not verify current activity.