Nepal is a landlocked country in the Himalayas between India to south, east, and west and Tibet to the north. It is mostly mountainous, but has a diverse range of plains, subalpine forests, and valleys. Nepal’s climate varies seasonally and by altitude, with vast differences in both average temperature and precipitation between the relatively low altitude south and the high altitude north. Climate change is expected to exacerbate the risks Nepal already faces from natural disasters putting its energy, agriculture, water resources, forestry, biodiversity, and health systems at even greater risks (Government of Nepal, 2014).  

Nepal has already started to feel the impacts of climate change through species ranges shifting to higher altitudes, glaciers melting, and extreme precipitation events happening more frequently (World Bank Group, 2021). Average annual temperatures are expected to be higher in Nepal than the global average, particularly during the winter months (ibid.). Along with increased risk of droughts and floods, Nepal is also facing a growing hazard from glacier lake outburst floods due to glacier melt (ibid.). Climate change is exacerbating existing inequalities in Nepal and is having a negative impact on health with vector- and waterborne disease incidence (World Bank Group, 2022). The Growing season for plants has already been found to be longer at higher altitudes, and the tree line along the Himalayas is moving further up, indicating the shrinking of the alpine ecoregion (World Bank Group, 2021).  

In Nepal’s National Adaptation Program of Action (2010) they outline several adaptation programs to reduce vulnerability to climate change including investing in breeding drought-tolerant crops, non-conventional irrigation, and establishing a national disaster preparedness and management agency. Nepal has one of the world’s largest hydropower resources and could become even more prominent with accelerated glacial melt (though maintenance and the threat of infrastructure damage also rises) (World Bank Group, 2022).