Resources

Summary

Conducted by the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre in April 2021, this assessment examines how climate change intensifies risks to health and livelihoods in Nepal’s varied geography. Rising temperatures, shifting precipitation, glacier melt, and more extreme weather (e.g., floods, droughts, landslides, and glacial lake outburst floods) jeopardize agriculture, water resources, human health, and infrastructure. The report identifies that poorer populations, especially women, ethnic minorities, subsistence farmers, are disproportionately affected, facing heightened exposure to vector-borne diseases, malnutrition, waterborne illnesses, psychosocial stress, and disrupted income-generating activities. It stresses the feedback loop between declining livelihoods and weakening health, and calls for coordinated adaptation planning, risk awareness, early warning systems, and cross-sector collaboration to avert the most severe consequences.