Towards greener future: UNDP’s initiative to reduce carbon footprint
In a gesture of solidarity towards the country’s net-zero emission pathway under the Paris Agreement (2015) on climate change, United Nations Development Programme UNDP Nepal Office unveiled it’s new fast-charging station and expanded its fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) from two to five. The office is already harnessing solar energy to power 30% of its daily office operations in Kathmandu which resulted in annual savings of US $ 23,584 in 2022.
Marking the World Environment Day on 5 June 2023, UNDP Resident Representative Ayshanie Medagangoda Labé joined by Nepal Electricity Authority’s Managing Director Kulman Ghising inaugurated the charging station at UN House in Pulchowk, Lalitpur. It is expected that the use of the fast charging and the EVs will offset 9.58 tons of CO2 annually.
“We have seen the changes in means of transportation in these 3–4 years as more people are opting for electric vehicles. Thanks to UNDP for your effort towards promoting EVs and promoting environment-friendly behavior,” said Ghising.
He also shared that, Nepal Electricity Authority has decided to buy only Electric Vehicles and plan to install more charging stations across the country.
Ms. Labé said UNDP, as part of its go-green policy,“UNDP is committed to gradually replacing all gasoline cars with electric vehicles for city-based travels, further reducing carbon emissions.”
According to the IPCC, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transport sector accounted for 15% of the emissions globally in 2019. In Nepal, the transport sector accounts for 5.15% of the total carbon emission as per Nepal’s Long Term Strategy for Net Zero Emission, 2021 and aims to strengthen its public transport network and to turn 90% of its vehicles electric by 2030, eliminating fossil fuel use and replacing it with cleaner sources would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 28%.
“I feel really comfortable using EVs,” said, Dambar Nepal, Driver at UNDP Nepal.” “UNDP has been implementing various programmes to reduce carbon emission and with this EV, I personally feel that I am contributing to a noble cause,” Moti Kaji Dangol, driver at UNDP added.
The EVs and the charging station were installed with the support from ‘Greening Moonsho ’, a UNDP initiative launched in 2019 affirming the organization’s commitment to reduce its operational carbon footprint by 50% by 2030. UNDP has adopted very ambitious Moonshot targets committing to reduce GHG emissions from global operations by 25% by 2025 and 50% by 2030. In order to achieve these goals, the top three GHG emission sources — air travel, electricity consumption and vehicle fuel use — have to be reduced by 55% each The Moonshot Facility supports GHG reduction projects in UNDP premises, including in particular solar energy and energy efficiency measures as well as the transition to electric vehicles in UNDP fleets.
UNDP has been promoting green behavior in its operations across the country. For example, an advanced Fleet Management Tool adopted globally supports efficient use of vehicles by optimizing car maintenance, utilization and fuel-efficient driving. Our vechicle policy requires all newly purchased vehicles to be electric or hybrid. UNDP office in Kathmandu has been installed rainwater harvesting system from 2022. So far, the system harvested over 770,166 litres of rainwater for internal consumption.
UNDP has been recycling the official waste and initiated “cycle to work” project for its staff which has helped cut carbon footprint by encouraging staff to use cycles.
Since 2019, over 60,000 trees have been planted across the country in collaboration with local governments and partners.
As we walk the talk on carbon emission reduction, UNDP has been actively playing a lead role to help Nepal on the road to a greener and more sustainable future. One significant contribution has been providing technical support to help Nepal finalize its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) targets under the Paris Agreement. The NDC’s are essential commitments made by countries to combat climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, UNDP is currently implementing the “Climate Promise: From Pledge to Impact” project in Nepal. The primary goal of this initiative is to translate the NDC targets into tangible and effective actions. Read more about UNDP’s overall programming under the climate resilience portfolio at: https://www.undp.org/nepal/resilience
