Bhutan: With its fragile ecosystem, Bhutan tackles climate change

BY NEDUP TSHERING*

Kind permission of IDN-InDepthNews Service

Bhutan Pledges Carbon Neutrality

THIMPHU (IDN) – The under-reported Bhutan’s National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) to combat climate change recognizes that the landlocked South Asian nation is highly vulnerable to climate change.

With its fragile ecosystem, glacier lake outburst floods in the northern mountains constitute an ever-present threat. Of the 2,674 glacial lakes in Bhutan, 24 are considered to be potentially dangerous, says a new report.

The rise in temperatures in recent decades has led to a reduction in Bhutan’s glacial cover. Some glaciers have been receding at a rate of 30 to 60 metres in a year. The retreat of some glacier cover in recent decades has already led to the formation of supraglacial lakes and breaches in the critical geostatic thresholds of several glaciers.

A new report by the World Bank says. Bhutan will see an increase in winter temperature of 1.5°C to 4.0°C by 2050s. The report titled ‘Shared Views on Development and Climate Change’ was released at the United Nations Climate Change conference in Copenhagen.

Bhutan owes its vulnerability to fragile mountain ecosystems, reliance on subsistence agriculture and farming of dry land crops, a population of 691,141whose growth rate is among the highest in the world (2.5 to 3 percent), a high dependency on monsoon rains (70 percent of the country’s rainfall falls during the monsoon season), and export of hydropower.

Visible effects of climate change in Bhutan are reduced agricultural production, water shortage and groundwater depletion, loss of forest area or production, threat of biodiversity loss, and exposure to glacial lake outburst floods, among others.

Meteorology officials say that in the last five years Bhutan has experienced a two degrees increase in the average temperature. It has resulted in late monsoons, which have harmed paddy production.

Dasho Nado Rinchhen, the Deputy Minister for Environment, points out that glaciers in Bhutan are already melting and that the country is asking for immediate and deeper cuts from developed nations while urging them to improve support in terms of capacity building, technology transfer and financial resources to enable the countries to adapt to climate change.

In fact, as Bhutanese officials showcased their friendly environmental projects in Copenhagen, back in Thimphu Prime Minister Jigmi Y.Thinley signed a historic climate declaration committing Bhutan to absorb more carbon than it emits for all times to come.

The declaration calls for global attention to Bhutan’s commitment to preserving its rich eco system and in return is asking for support for its mitigation and adaptation measures to adapt to climate change.

“In spite of our status as a small, mountainous developing country, with so many other pressing social and economic development needs and priorities, we feel that there’s no need greater or more important than keeping the planet safe for life to continue,” states the declaration.

“Therefore, we commit ourselves to keep absorbing more carbon than we emit and to maintain our country’s status as a net sink for greenhouse gases (GHG).”

“We pledge that we will not produce greenhouse gases in excess of what we can sequester, but we’ll also serve as a carbon sequestration tank for the world in general, and that we’d like to be rewarded for this,” said the prime minister, who signed the declaration after the closing of the winter parliament session Dec. 11.

“Because there are costs of conservation in maintaining this ecological balance against rising population, agricultural growth, urbanisation and industrialisation.”

The prime minister said the Bhutanese government and the media have a responsibility to make the world realise that Bhutan is threatened.

“It’s something that’s truly threatening, and it’s that spectre, which has haunted Bhutan from the moment His Majesty the fourth king came to the throne. That is why, he was one of the earliest environmentalists in the world, long before environmental conservation became a fashion.”

While other countries were talking about sustainable development, under His Majesty’s leadership Bhutan adopted the philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH) where environmental protection is one of the pillars out of the four pillars of GNH.

Agriculture Minister, Lyonpo Dr Pema Gyamtsho, said the pledge in the declaration had been made against the economic sacrifices Bhutan has made and environmental friendly polices in place, such as high value-low volume tourism, banning the export of timber, high prices for natural resources and discouraging the use of chemical fertilisers, which affects the farmers with decreased income, added.

“Bhutan’s rich ecosystem isn’t by default but because of its sound environmental policies.”

According to the minister, Bhutan’s total emission is about 1.5 million tonnes, against its sequestration capacity (carbon absorption capacity) of about 6.3 million tonnes annually. Bhutan’s carbon balance of minus 4.7 million tonnes means that it can still absorb more carbon.

Bhutan is mainly seeking financial and expertise from developed countries said the agriculture minister. “If we want to keep our forest cover at 60 percent, it comes with a cost. So we’ll have to look at how other countries, especially the rich countries can compensate the economic opportunities that we’ve foregone,” he said.

The minister said that funds are needed to convert to green technologies, to take up organic agriculture, technologies for hydropower generation and to reverse the degradation of land and improve soil fertility.

Maintaining the healthy existing ecosystem, however, is challenging for Bhutan. Besides water and forest management, one of the biggest challenges for Bhutan would be to provide alternatives for income and employment generation by controlling the development of industries in the country. (IDN-InDepthNews/15.12.09)

*Nedup Tshering worked for the Royal Government of Bhutan's National Environment Commission for more than 12 years. He is one of the founders of Bhutan Innovative Community, an NGO. For details visit www.bhutanicommunity.org.

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