Local urban climate governance in Nepal: The interplay between national governments and aid agencies

Abstract

Multi-lateral aid come from various Bilateral-aid agencies that play a crucial role in supporting developing nations around the world to address climate change issues. Despite significant effort from aid agencies, it is not clear how aid is received and distributed at local level in recipient countries. This paper highlights some of the challenges associated with funding obtained and utilised particularly to address climate change adaptation via case study of Kathmandu, Nepal. This empirical research is funded by the Government of Australia. This research draws on PhD research including a review of the literature and in-depth interviews with governing actors such as local planners in Kathmandu, climate experts, academics, and community members. The study focused on understanding the impacts of international and aid agency investment in climate action at the local urban scale. Key findings reveal that over the past decade significant resources were spent in capacity building programs nationally, but with limited contribution at the level of local adaptation in the urban regions. Local governing agencies and authorities have little capacity to address urban scale needs. Results of the study suggest that the process of distributing aid funding and evaluation of its impact is not transparent. This raised a number of questions around the legitimacy of governing climate change adaptation programs from the top down.