A small developing nation located in the fragile eastern Himalayan ecosystem, Bhutan’s key
sectors affected by the adverse effects of climate change include infrastructure, agriculture,
forestry, water resources, energy and health. Seventy-nine per cent of Bhutan’s population, who
are subsistence farmers, will be directly affected by temperature changes and unpredictable monsoon
patterns, and the infrastructure will suffer increased damage from landslides and flashfloods. As
Bhutan’s economy is highly dependent on hydropower resources (which constitute over 12 per cent
of the country’s GDP), the potential impacts on this sector are equally alarming. The most
significant impact, however, is the rapid melting of glaciers, which will not only affect the base
flow of the rivers but will also dramatically increase the risk of GLOFs.
Timelines of the NAPA preparation process in Bhutan
Funding for the preparation of the NAPA approved by the GEF
GEF agency approval date
NAPA preparation start
Submission of the NAPA to the UNFCCC
NAPA projects under implementation
Bhutan’s NAPA outlined nine priority activities which are almost all
location-specific. Due to the urgent need to address potential GLOFs, a project aimed at reducing
these risks was given priority, and it was the first to be submitted for implementation under the
LDCF. Three priority activities were selected as the project components:
1. Artificially lowering the water level in Thorthormi Lake;
2. Increasing the capacity for disaster risk management in affected valleys;
3. Installing a technical early warning system for GLOFs.
Project title: Reducing climate-change induced risks and vulnerabilities from glacial
lake outbursts in the Punhakha-Wangdi and Chamkhar Valleys
Number of NAPA priority activities addressed
Cost in USD million (LDCF component/total cost)
First submission of the concept note (PIF) under the LDCF
GEF CEO endorsement of the project
Preparation and implementation strategy: Though awareness on climate change was relatively low
at the beginning of the NAPA preparation process, Bhutan counted on good stakeholder participation
throughout the process and also positive working relations among the different stakeholders, including
the GEF agency (UNDP). A taskforce composed of members from different development sectors was put
together to assess the country’s vulnerabilities to climate change and key adaptation strategies
to address them.
In addition to the taskforce meetings, Bhutan’s NAPA team also held several meetings with donors
and the GEF agency to discuss and help define the adaptation priorities and key vulnerability aspects
to be addressed in the country. The existence of a clearly urgent risk posed by climate change in the
country – the GLOFs – made it easier to define the first project to be submitted under the
LDCF and to allocate the funds once they were made available.
Revision and update: Since some sectors involved felt that they did not engage
effectively in the NAPA process during the preparation phase, due to a low level of awareness and
knowledge, they welcomed the idea of revising and updating the NAPA as a positive step to ensure that
urgent and immediate adaptation needs from their respective areas would be adequately reflected in the
NAPA. Bhutan’s NAPA specifies that it will be periodically reviewed after actual implementation
of the first priority projects within the context of the Government’s FYP cycle.
Institutional arrangements in the country: The NAPA was conceived within the
framework of the Royal Government of Bhutan’s sustainable development Five-Year Plan
(FYP). Bhutan’s National Environment Commission (NEC) is responsible for guiding and
coordinating the executing/implementing sector agencies (ministries) and will, from time to
time, monitor the ‘climate change adaptation’ components within the projects to
ensure that key NAPA objectives are not being ignored.
Experience with project implementation: Challenges included the need for
outside assistance to develop the reasoning for the additional cost of adaptation for the
project, and delays caused by a change of templates for submitting projects by the GEF.
Further, given the urgent nature of the problem to be addressed, it was considered that the
overall time it took from the initial development of the project concept to the first
disbursement for actual implementation (three years) was longer than necessary.
However, a good working relationship with the agency has facilitated progress, and the fact
that the Government is familiar with UNDP’s country framework ensured that expectations
were correctly managed between each partner in the implementation of the first project. Regular
interaction between the national team and the GEF at UNFCCC sessions allowed the country to
keep informed of progress in the consideration of its projects. The implementation of the
project is now at an advanced stage. Due to difficult access to the site, the workers at the
Thorthormi lake have to manually excavate a channel to lower the lake level. Some of the hired
workers employed during the brief working season in the summer are women from the local
community (see photo page 34).
Project highlights: GLOFs are very specific to mountainous areas (the Hindu
Kush-Himalayan region alone has nearly 8,800 glacial lakes, 203 of which were identified as
potentially dangerous) and, therefore, this project has good potential for replication both
within the country and in other countries in the region facing the same problem. Pakistan,
for instance, is using Bhutan’s experience for the development of similar projects
under the AF. In Bhutan, 24 other glacial lakes were identified as being at high risk
Bhutan’s experience shows that when the potential impacts of climate change are
clear and the expected outcomes of a project are tangible, the rationale for the project is
easy to articulate. Bhutan’s project is also a good example of the replication of a
project approach to similar conditions and impacts within a region.