Urban Ecosystem-based Adaptation for Climate Resilient Development in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) is increasingly recognized as a sustainable adaptation option for urban areas, reducing the vulnerability of marginalized people to climate change impacts. Urban EbA mitigates the impacts of climate change on local communities by enhancing the provision of ecosystem goods and services, including water recharge, flood control, and heat regulation. Such interventions also frequently provide a number of co-benefits that support the sustainable development of urban areas. These co-benefits include adaptation co-benefits (e.g., reduced urban heat island effect in the Kathmandu Valley and increased food and water security), as well as non-adaptation co-benefits. The latter includes socio-economic and sustainable development co-benefits, including

i) the provision or improvement of public and recreational spaces.

ii) improved character of cultural heritage sites. 

iii) the provision of alternative livelihood opportunities.

iv) strengthened biodiversity value; and

v) improved air quality.

A number of barriers prevent the uptake of EbA into urban development planning in the Kathmandu Valley. These include limited:

i) technical and institutional capacity to mainstream urban EbA into development planning.

ii) financial resources for implementing EbA; and

iii) knowledge and awareness of climate change and the multiple benefits of urban EbA.

The proposed LDCF project will fund activities to overcome these barriers. This will be achieved by:

i) strengthening technical and institutional capacity to mainstream urban EbA into urban planning by developing guidelines and issuing policy recommendations.

ii) building an evidence base for urban EbA to motivate changes to budget allocation for urban EbA interventions; and

iii) learning by doing through implementing urban EbA interventions in selected demonstration sites.

In addition to the main activities mentioned above, project interventions will also include training of communities and government, strengthening climate-resilient livelihoods, and developing a knowledge-sharing platform.

The proposed LDCF project’s activities will be sustainable and replicable in the long term through i) the urban EbA guides, which will be implemented by KVDA; and ii) integrating urban EbA into policies, strategic plans, and bylaws to ensure that project activities are implemented in future urban development. In addition, the research programs established under the project will enable ongoing learning on the benefits of urban EbA interventions. As a result, project interventions and future implementation of urban EbA will benefit from a strengthened evidence base for the use of urban EbA to build the climate resilience of people living within the Kathmandu Valley