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city profile: kathmandu
The Kathmandu Valley Kathmandu is the country’s capital and the largest city (population of 1 million), followed by Pokhara, Lalitpur, Bharatpur and Birgunj metropolitan cities (population above 200,000). The Kathmandu valley includes 3 cities – Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur with total area of 570 sq. km. The population of the valley is 2.5 million with annual growth rate of 4.63% (3.5 million unofficial). This represents 9.32% of entire population of country. Some of the initiatives on energy generation/conservation, sustainable transport and waste management in the valley are discussed below. Energy Nepal’s energy consumption is less, but it is growing (grew 27% from 2000 to 2013) with increased urbanisation and economic production (e.g. in industry and transport). Nepal does not have major oil, gas, or coal reserves and the reliance on imported fossil fuel makes it vulnerable. Although Nepal has huge technical potential to generate electricity from hydropower (estimated 83,000MW), currently only 1% of this potential is harnessed (and imports deficit electricity from India). With the completion of new Upper Tamakochi Hydropower project (UTHEP), 456MW of electricity expected to be added by the end of 2018 (Lama, 2017). Nepal has a good potential for photovoltaic solar power and its use has been initiated on the roofs of the Kathmandu valley. Most of solar photovoltaics (PVs) are installed privately on rooftops and are used mainly for lighting the building and operating some appliances. The excess energy generated from solar power are stored in batteries, but are not yet connected to national grid. A policy that allows net metering from any solar power above 500 Watts exist in Nepal but it has not yet been applied in the city (Chalise, 2017). Transport Road transport dominates transport infrastructure in Nepal (cars, bus, motorcycle and marginal non-motorised transport). In the Kathmandu Valley, the number of vehicles registered tremendously rose—an increase of over 12-fold from 45,871 in 1990/1991 to 570,145 in 2010/2011. The highest number of vehicles type in the valley was motorised two-wheelers. Air pollution was the second leading cause of death in one of the main hospitals of the Kathmandu Valley in 2011. To reduce air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley, these 3 measures are urgently required: improving vehicle speed, promoting public transportation, and introducing electric vehicles that could reduce public transportation energy demand by more than 60% (Shrestha, Shrestha, & Shrestha, 2017). Some electric cars and scooters have been introduced in cities. Electrically powered 3 wheeler e-Tuk-Tuk/e-rickshaw (Safa Tempo) is a successful example of public EV in Nepal (e.g. in Kathmandu and in southern part of Nepal), in operation since 1996. Currently, 1,200 e-rickshaws (Safa Tempos) run in Kathmandu (Shahi, 2017). Less than 100 electric cars are in the valley, mainly imported form India, China and South Korea (which is negligible compared to fossil-fueled cars). A few small electric cars are produced in Nepal by Hulas Motor Company as an experiment. Charging infrastructure is in very nascent state in Kathmandu (also in Nepal). Nepal Electrical Authority opened a demo charging station at its office in order to boost public interest in EVs. E-scooters are a solution to replace the growing and highly used fossil fueled scooters in the valley. Public transportation services, currently run by the private sector through individual operators, are still not adequate in the city. The addition of e-bus can improve accessibility and environment. Waste management Nepal’s urban basic services such as water supply, wastewater treatment and solid waste management (SWM) are not well developed, technically and financially. Nepal’s municipal solid waste (MSW) is composed of 56% organic waste, 16% plastics, and 16% paper and paper products in aggregate (ADB, 2013). The Kathmandu valley generates around 1,000 tonnes of solid waste per day. 70% of the trash is dumped in nearby landfill site, without proper waste segregation. The Government of Nepal adopted a Public Private Partnership approach in 2018, Nepwaste Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of Investment Board Nepal (IBN) and Finnish organisations in order to develop and implement an Integrated Solid Waste Management Program for Kathmandu. It will transform informal sector of waste collection into a formal one and assure regular service of household waste collection. It aims to convert organic waste to energy. It is estimated that it will generate 5-7 MWs of electricity, organic fertiliser and fuels. Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) has also initiated large scale biogas projects in urban and semi-urban areas of Nepal with the financial support from World Bank under Scaling up Renewable Energy Programme (The Himalayan Times, 2017). Nepal government has imposed a ban on import, storage, sale, distribution and use of plastic bags below 40 microns (The Himalayan Times, 2018), but due the lack of enforcement it is not fully implemented. |
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capacity building
The Urban Pathways Conference took place from 16 to 20 October in Berlin, Germany, with the objective to discuss concrete low-carbon energy, mobility and waste-management solutions to deliver on the New Urban Agenda. This event showcased activities of cities working together on sustainable urban development and helped taking this further into a joint program of action.
"Giving the residents Kamalamai a great sense of security and well-being” The municipality of Kamalamai (Nepal) faces some major issues, including insufficient Solid Waste Management and the lack of street lights in urban areas. Kamalamai municipality is in the process of soliciting technical and financial resources from national and international agencies so that it is able to adequately manage solid waste, install solar street lights and maintain overall city hygiene and general cleanliness – Ashish Gajural, Senior Manager, Project Development and Management, Accelerating Public and Private Investment in Infrastructure Component (APPIIC) Nepal: Nepal and Raju Neupane, Nepals’ department of Urban Development and Building Construction both support the municipality’s call-for-support. Urban Pathways is currently in the process of developing a concept note that will be forwarded to the Kamalamai municipality authority for approval. In the interim, the Urban Pathways team is developing a cost-to-concept proposal that will also be tabled with the municipality so that approval can be granted to proceed to securing funds and support for the implementation of the approved project concept. Options under consideration include the provision of waste collection bins for recycling to be strategically situated in public places of significant citizen and foot-traffic; implementing a waste-to-energy pilot programme; and installation of solar lighting in public places. These projects have the potential to contributed to the UN’s New Urban Agenda and to the Sustainable Development Goals – leapfrogging Kamalamai municipality towards providing better services to its communities in a sustainable and progressive manner. |
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City-to-city partnerships
The partner cities will be supported by exchanging ideas with their peers in other cities who have developed successful urban mobility, energy and resource management solutions. This will focus on the story behind the success on governance, finance and regulatory issues.
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regional replication
Implementation is the main focus of the project. As result of the structured process of the project we will identify feasible urban energy, mobility and resources management options in our partner cities. We work closely with development bank partners and financing sources, such as the Green Climate Fund towards assessments of the feasibility of concrete implementation projects. |
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Nepal´s Nationally Determined Contributions:
Nepal aims to reduce about 14 million tones of CO2 emission and targets a 80% share of renewable sources in its energy mix by 2050, reducing its fossil fuel dependency by 50%. Population of 29.529.631 (2017) National GDP 21.14 billion USD (2016) Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) Nepal is one of the least contributors to the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As of 2010, Nepal’s own emissions bring about less than 0.1% of global emissions. With the current policies, Nepal’s GHG emissions are expected to increase to between 50–53 MtCO2e by 2030 (an increase of 55–66% compared to 2010 levels). Even with this increase, the country’s per capita emissions would only grow from 1.2 tCO2e/cap as of 2010 to 1.5–1.6 tCO2e/cap by 2030, still far below the 2012 world average of 7.6 tCO2e/cap. But Nepal is highly vulnerable to climate change which has a negative impact on its people, property and natural resources (Government of Nepal, 2016). Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) was submitted in October 2016. In its Paris agreement targets, it has plans to build resilience to climate change impacts as well as to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission with an intent to move to a low carbon economic development pathway - but has not outlined a clear overall GHG emission reduction target or commitment (Climate Action Tracker, 2017). Transport Road transport dominates transport infrastructure in Nepal (cars, bus, motorcycle and marginal non-motorised transport). In the Kathmandu Valley, the number of vehicles registered tremendously rose—an increase of over 12-fold from 45,871 in 1990/1991 to 570,145 in 2010/2011. The highest number of vehicles type in the valley was motorised two-wheelers. Air pollution was the second leading cause of death in one of the main hospitals of the Kathmandu Valley in 2011. To reduce air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley, these 3 measures are urgently required: improving vehicle speed, promoting public transportation, and introducing electric vehicles that could reduce public transportation energy demand by more than 60% (Shrestha, Shrestha, & Shrestha, 2017). Some electric cars and scooters have been introduced in cities. Electrically powered 3 wheeler e-Tuk-Tuk/e-rickshaw (Safa Tempo) is a successful example of public EV in Nepal (e.g. in Kathmandu and in southern part of Nepal), in operation since 1996. Currently, 1,200 e-rickshaws (Safa Tempos) run in Kathmandu (Shahi, 2017). Less than 100 electric cars are in the valley, mainly imported form India, China and South Korea (which is negligible compared to fossil-fueled cars). A few small electric cars are produced in Nepal by Hulas Motor Company as an experiment. Charging infrastructure is in very nascent state in Kathmandu (also in Nepal). Nepal Electrical Authority opened a demo charging station at its office in order to boost public interest in EVs. E-scooters are a solution to replace the growing and highly used fossil fueled scooters in the valley. Public transportation services, currently run by the private sector through individual operators, are still not adequate in the city. The addition of e-bus can improve accessibility and environment. Energy Nepal’s energy consumption is less, but it is growing (grew 27% from 2000 to 2013) with increased urbanisation and economic production (e.g. in industry and transport). Nepal does not have major oil, gas, or coal reserves and the reliance on imported fossil fuel makes it vulnerable. Although Nepal has huge technical potential to generate electricity from hydropower (estimated 83,000MW), currently only 1% of this potential is harnessed (and imports deficit electricity from India). With the completion of new Upper Tamakochi Hydropower project (UTHEP), 456MW of electricity expected to be added by the end of 2018 (Lama, 2017). Nepal has a good potential for photovoltaic solar power and its use has been initiated on the roofs of the Kathmandu valley. Most of solar photovoltaics (PVs) are installed privately on rooftops and are used mainly for lighting the building and operating some appliances. The excess energy generated from solar power are stored in batteries, but are not yet connected to national grid. A policy that allows net metering from any solar power above 500 Watts exist in Nepal but it has not yet been applied in the city (Chalise, 2017). Waste management Nepal’s urban basic services such as water supply, wastewater treatment and solid waste management (SWM) are not well developed, technically and financially. Nepal’s municipal solid waste (MSW) is composed of 56% organic waste, 16% plastics, and 16% paper and paper products in aggregate (ADB, 2013). The Kathmandu valley generates around 1,000 tonnes of solid waste per day. 70% of the trash is dumped in nearby landfill site, without proper waste segregation. The Government of Nepal adopted a Public Private Partnership approach in 2018, Nepwaste Pvt Ltd, a joint venture of Investment Board Nepal (IBN) and Finnish organisations in order to develop and implement an Integrated Solid Waste Management Program for Kathmandu. It will transform informal sector of waste collection into a formal one and assure regular service of household waste collection. It aims to convert organic waste to energy. It is estimated that it will generate 5-7 MWs of electricity, organic fertiliser and fuels. Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) has also initiated large scale biogas projects in urban and semi-urban areas of Nepal with the financial support from World Bank under Scaling up Renewable Energy Programme (The Himalayan Times, 2017). Nepal government has imposed a ban on import, storage, sale, distribution and use of plastic bags below 40 microns (The Himalayan Times, 2018), but due the lack of enforcement it is not fully implemented. 
Mitigation plans and actions The GHG emission reduction plans, mainly on energy, mobility and resources, listed in Nepal’s NDC are as follows (Government of Nepal, 2016):
Nepal has initiated several activities to reduce climate threats and build resiliency, support climate vulnerable communities to cope with climate change impacts on people and nature. The key activities include (Government of Nepal, 2016):
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policy development
Policy measures at the local and national level can be critical to the transformation of urban energy, mobility and resource sectors, for example they regulate systems, provide technological standards, generate funding, impose taxes and set policy objectives. As part of the cooperation with the partner cities, Urban Pathways provides on-demand policy advice. |
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project development
One of the core objectives is the development and implementation of projects that help decarbonising urban energy, mobility and resource sectors. The projects concepts that are considered to be viable will be later developed into bankable projects for which funding will be sought. |
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funding solutions
An overview of funding solutions is provided in the toolbox. This section includes updates on the specific funding options that are considered for the partner city.
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implementation facility
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action plans
The Action Plans summarise key on-going initiatives and identify opportunities for further action with a focus on cross-sectoral synergies and policy interactions between the local and national level. |
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bankable projects
Urban Pathways develops scalable pilot projects in cooperation with the partner cities at a neighbourhood level with an aim to provide a proof of concept of urban energy, mobility and waste management solutions. Based on the pilot project demonstrators, larger-scale projects will be developed to utilise the CO2mitigation potential of an integrated urban energy, mobility and resource management approach and seize the opportunities for contributions the Sustainable Development Goals. This will be done in close cooperation with finance partners and will be geared towards the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility and similar sources of funding and financing. |
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implementation support
The Urban Pathways team actively support partner cities in the implementation of urban energy, mobility and waste management solutions. This support includes activities jointly initiated under this project and other relevant actions currently on-going in the partner cities. |
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About Urban Pathways
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