Transforming transport in Nepal

Transport is one of the biggest and fastest-growing sources of carbon emissions in Nepal where private cars and motorcycles make up 87% of the registered vehicles and 37% of the total emissions. 

Meanwhile, freight and public transport make up a small share of registered vehicles, but contribute 36% and 27% respectively to Nepal’s emissions.

Transport emissions have risen six-fold in the last two decades after the end of the Maoist conflict. Petroleum and vehicle imports have widened the country’s trade deficit with India. Air pollution is a major public health risk directly causing the deaths of 12,700 Nepalis in 2021, according to the State of Global Air.

Nepal is preparing the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC 3.0) as required by the Paris Agreement, and must set ambitious and robust targets to decarbonise transportation. 

This is not so much to save the planet, given the country’s negligible carbon footprint, but to reduce our dependence on imported petroleum, increase consumption of clean hydropower, and improve air quality.

The government needs to phase out vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE), starting with a ban on their import and sale by 2030. Heavy commercial vehicles can be exempted for now.

The federal budget of 2021/22 did include a policy to phase out fossil fuel vehicles by 2031, and by 2028 from the urban centres of Bagmati Province. The government banned the registration of new ICE taxis in the capital, showing that regulatory measures can be cost-effective, sustainable, and transformative.

Norway has an even more ambitious target to ban ICE vehicle sales by end-2025. The EU adopted legislation to reduce 100% of carbon emissions from 2035 for new cars and vans. Over 20 vehicle manufacturers, representing over 90% of car sales in 2023, have set targets for EV production, with many setting a goal to achieve 50–100% of electric vehicle production or sales by 2030–2035.

EV sales in Nepal will likely increase even without government effort. Already, battery powered vehicles make up 75% of all new car sales in Nepal. But our focus should now shift to the electrification of public transport.

Transforming the transport system requires it to be inclusive and equitable. Electric public transport such as buses provide the greatest emission reduction potential and wider social and economic benefits from equitable access to mobility to meet Nepal’s energy security.

This means investment and financial incentives from the government, and not just tax rebates, to be extended to other electric or zero-emission public service vehicles, such as taxis and cargo trucks. Enabling more people to walk and cycle safely is also a quick, affordable, and reliable way to help reduce transport emissions by as much as 50%.

Public transport is a public service, and the onus lies squarely with the government. It cannot be left entirely to the private sector as is the case at the moment.

To be sure, Nepal has some policies on sustainable transportation on paper but government agencies are working at cross purposes. 

For example: no federal budget has been allocated for a public bus system and pedestrian and cycling infrastructures this year. 

Almost the entire transport budget goes into building roads and widening highways. There is little hope of transformation unless the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport sets new priorities. 

The Department of Roads has not moved beyond its focus on roads and highway construction, while continuously failing on road safety. The Department of Transport Management on the other hand acts solely as a vehicle registration and licensing agency.

These departments need to be overhauled with a mandate for sustainable public transportation. The jurisdiction over all roads, other than national highways, should be devolved to local governments. The federal government can then ensure that the biggest slice of the transport budget flows to sustainable public transport projects.

Decarbonising and transforming transport require a whole-of-government approach with a strong commitment to reforming the sector, and not just paying lip service to it. 

But while one arm of the government plans to increase clean energy generation and achieve net-zero, the other is drilling for oil and building petroleum pipelines.  

Prashanta Khanal is an independent climate and transport policy researcher.