My paper is based on the findings from the document analysis and recent field research (November-December 2022 and January 2023) carried out for my PhD research. It will discuss the interlinkages of power, knowledge, resources and climatic challenges for different social groups, planners and agencies that have resulted in the successes, gaps and issues for effective adaptation in Tikapur municipality, a flood prone area on the bank of the major river Karnali, situated in Far West Nepal.
Climate policies in developing countries such as Nepal, are heavily influenced by international actors and their world views through which aid and technical assistance are provided. My research uses an approach that is founded on environmental justice concerns, to explore through discourse analysis, the underlying world views, processes and associated power relations that have led to the emergence of climate governance in Nepal. The study argues that climate change adaptation planning and programming need to attend to the disproportional and differential impacts caused by climate change within a society due to the processes by which social inequalities are maintained.
Research indicates that changes in climate have higher impacts for the poor in Nepal who live on vulnerable sites and own fewer assets. These impacts are further exacerbated by deep social inequalities that exist in the country, based on historical power, caste, ethnicity and gender, among other factors. Looking at both the local case study and the national context, my PhD research considers whether climate change policies and adaptation interventions reproduce rather than address the social, cultural and political structures that have historically marginalized and deprioritized some groups. The research explores local coping strategies together with adaptation interventions in the effort to articulate more just, equitable and effective adaptation to climate change