Climate Change Reporting and the Role of Media in Shaping Public Discourse in Nepal: Evidence From a Literature Review

Introduction

The Climate Risk Index statistics shows that Nepal falls under the ten most affected countries in the world, which is a major concern (Eckstein, Kunzel, & Schafer, 2021). Majority of Nepali people (about 80 percent) are vulnerable and likely to extreme heat stress, flooding, and air pollution (Ministry of Home Affairs, 2018). The risk has aggravated even more due to increasing trends of occurrence of storms, erosion, and landslides, resulting in the loss of life and livelihoods (ADB, 2021). Specifically, when we look at the rise in temperature, the projection is increment by 0.92–1.070C in between 2016–2045; 1.3–1.80C in between 2036–2065 taking the reference of 20-year period between 1981 and 2010 (MoFE, 2019). Predictions also show Nepali people annually affected by river flooding caused by climate change could more than double to around 350,000 in 2030 compared to 157,000 in 2010 (ADB, 2021). Consequently, there is likelihood of great financial loss, due to the flood as the estimates are that the loss could be threefold (ibid).

Climate change has already considerably affected lives of people during the last four decades in Nepal. As 647 people lose their lives each year because of climate-induced disasters (MoFE, 2021). The ‘Climate Change Scenarios for Nepal’ report highlights that in general, climate in Nepal will be significantly warmer and wetter in the coming years. The extremities in terms of temperature and precipitation will directly affect social sectors such as health, water, energy, biodiversity, agriculture, urban planning, and livelihoods (MoFE, 2019). When we see the increasing trend of climate-induced disasters in Nepal, we also need to take into context the current land and forest management. There is only one hydroelectric plant which is run-of-river. The productivity of this plant is very much dependent on river runoff volume and sedimentation, which has been affected by poor land and forest management. All this leads to potential vulnerability in the context of uncertain future precipitation regimes, glacial melting, and potential increases in the risks of landslides and glacial melting.