By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct. 29: A virtual meeting has been held between Finance Minister Janardan Sharma and representatives of the World Bank.
In the meeting held on Wednesday, they discussed the development projects implemented in Nepal with the assistance of the World Bank and the impact of climate change, said a press statement of the Ministry of Finance.
Addressing the meeting, Minister Sharma expressed the commitment of the government to work expeditiously to speed up the implementation of energy and other infrastructure projects to be implemented with the assistance of the World Bank.

He expressed confidence that Nepal's interests and agendas would be addressed on behalf of the World Bank at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 26).
Stating that Nepal is taking a big risk due to climate change, he said that the government was working hard to assess the damage caused by unseasonal rains, save the lives of the people, supply food and rebuild the damaged infrastructure.

Minister Sharma also drew the attention of the World Bank to the fact that the Copenhagen decision on developing countries affected by climate change to receive compensation at the rate of USD 100 billion annually has not been implemented and Nepal does not have adequate access to funds set up to mitigate and control the effects of climate change.
He said that Nepal wants the World Bank to raise its voice on this issue in the COP-26. He also hoped that Nepal would receive the necessary assistance from the international community to combat the effects of climate change.

In the virtual meeting, World Bank Vice President for South Asia Hartwig Schafer pointed out the need to show readiness in implementation to make full use of the assistance and facilities received by Nepal.
He said that they were positive to present Nepal's interest in climate change at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 26).

Finance Secretary Madhu Kumar Marasini expressed the expectation that the assistance would be regular as in the past as the World Bank is a reliable partner of Nepal.
He expressed the commitment of the government to coordinate with the concerned ministries for the implementation of the projects and play an active role in resolving any obstacles.