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Climate Change in Nepal: Impacts, Risks, and Resilience

A short, self-paced course on how climate change is reshaping Nepal — from the fast-warming Himalaya to the flood-prone Terai. Across three lessons, you'll learn why a country that emits almost nothing sits on the climate front line, map the key hazards by region (glacial lake outburst floods, monsoon floods, landslides, drought, and threats to farming and hydropower), and see how adaptation, mitigation, and Nepal's national plans work together to build resilience. No prior background needed; works on any smartphone.

Lesson 1

Understanding Climate Change in Nepal

Climate Change in Nepal - Lesson 1 - Understanding Climate Change in Nepal
ADBL Climate Change in Nepal · नेपालमा जलवायु परिवर्तन

Lesson 1 of 3 · about 15 minutes

Understanding climate change in Nepal · नेपालमा जलवायु परिवर्तन बुझ्दै

Nepal (नेपाल) adds almost nothing to the causes of climate change — yet it sits on the front line of its effects. This lesson explains why: the Himalaya, the monsoon, and the way warming speeds up as you climb.

A front-line nation

Nepal releases only a tiny share of the world's greenhouse gases, but studies have repeatedly ranked it among the most climate-vulnerable countries on Earth — at one point the fourth most vulnerable. Its short distance from the hot Terai plains (about 60 m above sea level) to the summit of Everest (8,849 m) packs almost every climate zone into 200 km, which is exactly what makes it so sensitive.

Nepal's share of global greenhouse-gas emissions: under 0.1% — while it carries some of the heaviest climate impacts.
~0.06°C
rise in Nepal's mean annual temperature every year — faster than the global average
2×
the number of glacial lakes in the Nepal Himalaya has more than doubled since 1977
100%
of Nepal's electricity comes from renewable hydropower

Why Nepal warms faster

Two things make Nepal's warming sharper than the global average:

🏔️The Himalaya effectMountains heat up faster
The Hindu Kush Himalaya is warming faster than the global average. Even if the world holds warming to 1.5°C, this region is projected to warm at least 0.3°C more — and the north-west Himalaya and Karakoram at least 0.7°C more.Source: ICIMOD Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment
🔼Elevation-dependent warmingThe higher you go, the faster it warms
Warming is strongest at high altitude and weakest down in the Terai plains. That is why glaciers and snow — Nepal's frozen water towers — are changing first and fastest.Observed across Nepal's weather stations

What is already changing

  • Glaciers are retreating and meltwater is pooling into new and larger glacial lakes high in the mountains.
  • The monsoon is becoming erratic — later onsets, longer dry spells, and more intense downpours. Rain now falls on once-arid high valleys like Mustang and Manang.
  • Springs and streams are drying in the mid-hills, squeezing drinking water and rain-fed farming.
  • Crop zones are shifting — farmers are moving apple orchards and other crops higher upslope, chasing the cool they have lost.

What the projections say

Nepal's own climate submissions project mean annual temperatures rising 1.3–3.8°C by the 2060s and 1.8–5.8°C by the 2090s, with more intense extreme rainfall. The risk of glacial lake outburst floods is expected to keep climbing, with researchers warning of a peak of this risk around 2050.

The big picture: Nepal's climate story is a mountain story — tiny in emissions, large in consequences, and moving fastest exactly where the ice is.

Resources for this lesson

PDF document

The UN’s "Fast Facts about Climate Change" provides a concise overview of the crisis, establishing an overwhelming scientific consensus that human-driven greenhouse gas emissions are causing severe impacts like rising temperatures and extreme weather. To counter this, the framework emphasizes a dual strategy of reducing emissions and adapting infrastructure, supported by international treaties like the Paris Agreement.

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Microlearning Module: What is Climate Change? This module provides a concise introduction to the concept of climate change, covering its definition, causes, and key impacts. Participants will gain a basic understanding of how human activities are contributing to rising global temperatures and the resulting environmental challenges.

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Lesson 2

Nepal's Climate Risks: Mountains, Hills, and Terai

Climate Change in Nepal - Lesson 2 - Nepal's Climate Risks
ADBL Climate Change in Nepal · नेपालमा जलवायु परिवर्तन

Lesson 2 of 3 · about 25 minutes

Nepal's climate risks: mountains, hills, and Terai

Nepal is really three countries stacked by altitude, and the same warming hits each one differently. This lesson maps the risks from the high Himalaya down to the southern plains. Tap each belt and each hazard to open the detail.

The three belts

🏔️MountainsHigh Himalaya, above ~3,000 m
Glacier retreat, glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), avalanches, and thawing permafrost that loosens slopes. Settlements are sparse but the trekking economy and hydropower headworks sit right in the hazard path.
⛰️HillsMiddle mountains
Steep-slope landslides and debris flows, drying springs, erratic rainfall, and forest fires. This belt holds much of Nepal's population and most of its rain-fed farms — so exposure is high.
🌾TeraiSouthern plains
River floods and waterlogging, heat waves, drought, and pests and diseases moving into new areas. The Terai is Nepal's grain basket and its most densely settled land.

The key hazards, up close

🌊Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs)A wall of water from a burst mountain lake
As glaciers melt, lakes build up behind fragile natural dams of ice and rock. When a dam fails, the lake empties in minutes, sending a torrent of water, mud, and boulders downstream. Nepal has recorded about 26 GLOFs since 1977, and 47 lakes across its major river basins are flagged as potentially dangerous — most of them in the Koshi basin.Example: In August 2024, two lakes above Thame (Everest region) burst and destroyed around 20 buildings including a school and health post, displacing 135 people. It struck during the day, so there were no deaths.
🌊Monsoon floods & landslidesIntense rain on steep, fragile land
Heavier, more concentrated downpours fall on steep slopes and crowded floodplains. The result is flash floods, river floods, and landslides that cut roads, bury fields, and sweep away homes and businesses.Examples: The September 2024 floods — the heaviest rainfall in the region since about 1970 — devastated eastern Nepal and the Kathmandu valley. The 2021 Melamchi flood (rain and snowmelt plus a landslide-dammed river) wrecked farmland and riverside businesses.
☀️Drought & water stressReliable water is getting less reliable
Drying springs in the mid-hills, delayed monsoons, and longer dry spells make irrigation and drinking water uncertain. Communities increasingly compete for a shrinking, less predictable supply.
🌱Agriculture & food securityThe livelihood of most Nepalis is exposed
About two-thirds of Nepal's people depend on agriculture, most of it rain-fed and therefore highly weather-sensitive. Shifting seasons push crop zones upslope, new pests and diseases appear, and a single bad season can wipe out a family's income.
⚡Hydropower & infrastructureNepal runs on its rivers
Nearly all of Nepal's electricity is hydropower, so changing river flows, heavy sediment, floods, and GLOFs directly threaten dams, canals, roads, and bridges — a small hydropower project was among the assets destroyed at Thame.
🩺Health & displacementNew risks to people's wellbeing
Heat stress, water-borne disease after floods, and mosquito-borne illnesses climbing to higher, previously cooler altitudes. Disasters also displace families, straining the places they move to.
The scale of it: on average Nepal loses about 333 lives and more than USD 17 million in property every year to extreme climate events — and over 80% of Nepal's disaster losses come from climate-driven hazards like floods, landslides, and GLOFs.
Lesson 3

Building Resilience: Adaptation, Mitigation, and Nepal's Response

Climate Change in Nepal - Lesson 3 - Building Resilience
ADBL Climate Change in Nepal · नेपालमा जलवायु परिवर्तन

Lesson 3 of 3 · about 25 minutes

Building resilience: adaptation, mitigation, and Nepal's response

Nepal cannot slow the warming on its own, but it can cut the damage and reduce its own emissions. This lesson covers the two responses, Nepal's national plans, and what communities and businesses can do.

Two responses, working together

🛡AdaptationProtecting people from the impacts
Reducing harm from hazards that are already here or on the way — through water storage, resilient crops, early-warning systems, and flood-safe infrastructure. Adaptation is Nepal's first priority, because the impacts are already arriving.
🍃MitigationCutting the emissions that cause warming
Reducing greenhouse gases. Nepal emits very little, but it can still keep its power clean, protect its forests, and cut farm methane — while pressing high-emitting countries to do their share.

Adaptation across sectors

💧Water
  • Integrated watershed management
  • Reviving drying springs with recharge ponds
  • Year-round irrigation and water storage
🌱Agriculture
  • Drought-tolerant, climate-resilient seed varieties
  • Crop diversification and adjusted planting calendars
  • Crop and livestock insurance; farmer agro-advisories
⚠️Disaster risk reduction
  • Flood and GLOF early-warning systems
  • Lowering dangerous glacial lakes (Imja lake was lowered in 2016; Tsho Rolpa is closely watched)
  • All-weather roads and disaster-resilient schools
🌳Ecosystems
  • Community forestry and reforestation
  • Slope stabilization and bio-engineering
  • Protecting wetlands and natural buffers

Mitigation in a low-emitter

🔌Keep power clean, and use more of it
Nepal's electricity is already 100% renewable hydropower. Switching cooking and transport from imported fossil fuels to this clean electricity cuts both emissions and the fuel-import bill.
🌲Protect and grow forests
Forests are Nepal's carbon sink. The country aims to keep about 45% of its land under forest, storing carbon while stabilizing slopes and water.
🐄Cut farm methane
More than half of Nepal's emissions are methane, mostly from livestock and paddy. Better livestock feeding, manure management, and rice-water management reduce it.

Nepal's national response

2010
National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) — Nepal's first national adaptation roadmap.
2012
Local Adaptation Plans for Action (LAPA) — adaptation planned at the community level; 270+ local plans since prepared.
2021
National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2021–2050 — 64 priority programmes across 9 sectors; and a Long-Term Strategy targeting net-zero emissions by 2045.
2025
Third NDC — Nepal pledges to cut emissions about 17% by 2030 and about 27% by 2035 against business-as-usual, with GLOF risk reduction and early warning as adaptation priorities.

What you can do

  • Communities: take part in local adaptation plans (LAPA) and early-warning drills; protect forests and water sources.
  • Farmers & small businesses: build a climate-resilient plan — protect income through adaptation, and cut costs through mitigation.
  • A practical tool: the Climate Canvas walks a farm or business through its climate threats, adaptation and mitigation measures, and the costs and benefits — the subject of ADBL's companion training.

Quick knowledge check

Select an answer to see if it is correct. There is no time limit — try again until you get it right.

1. Why is Nepal considered highly vulnerable to climate change despite emitting very little?

2. What is a GLOF?

3. Which belt of Nepal is most associated with landslides and drying springs?

4. What year is Nepal's net-zero emissions target?

5. Switching from a diesel pump to an electric or solar one is an example of...

You've finished the course. You can now explain why Nepal is on the climate front line, name its main hazards by region, and describe how adaptation, mitigation, and national policy work together to build resilience.

Resources for this lesson

Web link

Developing Adaptation Strategies: Planning for and Responding to Climate Change Overview: This lesson will focus on the essential steps involved in developing effective adaptation strategies to address the impacts of climate change. Participants will learn how to identify vulnerabilities, assess risks, and implement practical solutions to build resilience in communities and systems.

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Microlearning Module: Building Resilience in Iraq: Case Studies of Adaptation and Mitigation: This lesson will explore specific examples of adaptation and mitigation measures that can be implemented in Iraq to address the challenges posed by climate change. Participants will learn about practical solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, build resilience to climate impacts, and promote sustainable development. Key Topics: Adaptation Measures: Water conservation and management Sustainable agriculture practices Disaster risk reduction and early warning systems Urban planning and green infrastructure Community-based adaptation initiatives Mitigation Measures: Renewable energy development Energy efficiency improvements Afforestation and reforestation programs Carbon capture and storage technologies Policy and regulatory frameworks for climate action

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This quiz is designed to help you understand your current knowledge and identify areas for further learning. It covers topics discussed in the training materials, such as the scientific consensus on climate change, the impacts of climate change on different regions, and strategies for adaptation and mitigation. Important Note: The results of this quiz will not be counted towards your official quiz grade. However, your instructor will be informed of your performance.

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