Nepal is a Climate Success Story that the World Hardly Hears

One of Nepal’s great paradoxes is that we are among the least responsible nations when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, barely a statistical blip at 0.027% of global totals. But we are one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. Melting glaciers, erratic monsoons, floods, landslides and droughts regularly batter our economy and communities. By every logic, Nepal should be at the front of the line for climate finance. Yet, when the pie is served, we are left scraping crumbs. Or are leaving billions on the table?  

A Country of Climate Achievements 

Nepal has some of the most compelling climate success stories in the world: 

Green Grid: Over 95% of our electricity already comes from hydropower, making us one of the greenest grids on the planet. While the rest of the world is debating coal phase-downs, we are already there. In fact, Nepal is not only powering itself cleanly but also exporting surplus renewable energy.  

Reforestation: In the 1980s, deforestation had stripped our hills bare. Today, thanks to our globally acclaimed community forestry programme, forest cover has rebounded to over 40% of the country. This is one of the most successful community-led reforestation programmes globally. Nepal’s forests are thriving lungs that absorb millions of tonnes of carbon each year.  
Tiger Population: Nepal is the first tiger-range country to fulfil its pledge under the 2010 Global Tiger Summit (TX2) by doubling its wild tiger population. Estimates show the tiger population rose from around 121 in 2009 to 355 in 2022. Nepal’s tiger story is nothing short of a landmark. 

EV Adoption: Long before electric vehicles were fashionable, Kathmandu’s Safa Tempos were shuttling commuters on clean energy. Today, four in every five new private vehicles sold is an EV making Nepal’s adoption rate one of the highest in South Asia clearly demonstrating how public acceptance can accelerate green adoption even in low-income settings.  
These are precisely the kind of transformative examples that climate financiers want to hear. They are not just feel-good stories; they establish that Nepal is capable of designing and executing climate-friendly initiatives with tangible outcomes. In the competitive world of climate finance these achievements are invaluable. 

Why Nepal Misses Out 

Despite such credentials, Nepal continues to lag behind in accessing climate finance. The key reasons are depressingly familiar: 
Fragmented Institutions: Nepal’s climate governance is fragmented, with overlapping roles across ministries and agencies. The Climate Change Management Division (Ministry of Forests and Environment) serves as the nodal body that manages policies, finance and international obligations. The National Planning Commission integrates climate into development planning but treats it as peripheral. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance oversees economic policy and aid, but climate finance flows through MoFE. Disconnects between budgeting and implementation result in weak coherence and accountability. 

Capacity Gap: Climate finance is generally the money that large economies provide to help poorer countries invest in activities to curb greenhouse gas emissions and cope with the worsening extreme weather unleashed by climate change. It is a maze of institutions, instruments and acronyms that demand technical fluency. At the global level, countries like Nepal can tap into mechanisms such as Green Climate Fund (GCF), Global Environment Facility (GEF), Adaptation Fund and a number of other vehicles. Each of them has its own eligibility rules, reporting standards and proposal formats. Beyond grants and concessional loans, there are emerging instruments such as carbon markets, resilience bonds and blended finance structures designed to de-risk private capital. These platforms represent billions of dollars in potential flows. Accessing them however requires expertise and acumen. 

This is where Nepal consistently struggles. Civil servants and focal points rotate frequently, rarely staying in post long enough to build expertise. Institutional memory is weak hence reliance on external consultants who generally approach their gigs as short-term compartmentalised engagements. Also, donors and financiers remain wary of political interference and the government’s poor delivery track record in general.  

These gaps leave Nepal poorly equipped to compete in the climate finance arena. As a result, instead of walking into global negotiations with the boldness and confidence that we deserve, we show up with project proposals that lack inspiration. That is like walking into a gunfight with a wooden stick. 

Should We Try A Different Playbook? 

We do not need to re-invent the wheel, but reframe the narrative and build capacity to make powerful pitches. Nepal must stop presenting itself as a passive victim but start selling itself as a climate leader: a country that has gone from barren hills to lush forests, built its power sector almost entirely on renewables, protected biodiversity while doubling its tiger population and proven EV adoption works in a low-income context. That is not the profile of a beggar. It is one of a winner.  

In order to carry our case powerfully in the world stage, we need an expert-driven body tasked with designing bankable projects, packaging them in investor-ready formats and shepherding them through global climate finance processes. This body should be staffed not with political appointees but with technocrats, economists and financial engineers. There are Nepalis here and abroad who have sat at the very tables where climate finance decisions are made. They understand the acronyms, the jargon and the politics. Why not mobilise our own people who bring both expertise and patriotism as advisors or envoys? 

And, if and when we access it, climate money should not just build embankments or buy solar panels. It should be put to catalytic use: to de-risk hydropower projects, to unlock private capital for agri-tech and insurance or to support green public transport systems, etc. If we use $10 in climate finance to unlock $100 in private investment, Nepal will suddenly become attractive to financiers. 

From Victim to Leader 

The shift required is primarily one of mindset. Nepal needs to stop approaching climate finance as a donor grant. Let’s look at it as venture capital for national resilience and growth. Our vulnerability gives us the moral high ground. Our successes give us credibility. What is missing is the confidence and clarity to claim leadership. Climate finance is owed to us not out of generosity but out of justice. It is time Nepal stopped being the world’s overlooked success story and started being its climate leader. If we do not act, we will keep suffering the brunt of climate disasters. 

This window of opportunity may not be open forever.