Pem Narayan Kandel

Dr. Pem Kandel is the Chief Policy Advisor at ICIMOD. In this role, which he has held since 2023, he reviews and analyses the implications of global, regional, and national environment and climate change policies, including Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), and facilitates practical solutions to address policy gaps.

At ICIMOD, Pem has also served as ad-hoc lead of Strategic Group 3: Regional Action and Global Advocacy.

Prior to this, he worked for the Government of Nepal for over 25 years, including as Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development.

During his tenure as secretary, Pem developed and reformed various climate change, environment and livestock polices such as the National Adaptation Plan, the Long Term Strategy for Net Zero Emission, Forest Regulation, the Climate Finance Strategy and Implementation Plan, the NDC Implementation Plan, the National Framework on Loss and Damage (L&D), the Gender and Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan, the Dairy Policy, the One Health Strategy, and the Animal Health Policy. Further, he successfully raised external funds from donor agencies for climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity conservation, sustainable forest management and electric mobility.

As national and technical head, Pem led delegations to the United Nations Climate Change Conferences COP27 and COP26, the United Nations Stockholm+50 meeting, the 15th World Forestry Congress, and the 6th Global Mountain Partnership meeting. Nepal also became a member state of multiple coalitions and institutions during his tenure, including the Adaptation Action Coalition, LEAF Coalition, Forest Partnership Coalition, High Ambition Coalition, Climate Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), and the Methane Pledge.

Pem holds a PhD in Forestry and Climate Science from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, in collaboration of Lappeenranta University of Technology Finland. He has a master’s degree in Natural Resource Management from the University of Twente, the Netherlands.