Subina Shrestha on Nepal’s Electric Mobility Transition: Challenges and Recommendations for the Future

In today's episode, PEI colleague Shreeya talks with Subina Shrestha about Nepal’s transportation sector and connects it to the global discourse on climate change. They discuss the direct and indirect impacts of Nepal’s reliance on fossil fuels for transportation, its contribution to global emissions, and speaking from the angle of climate justice. They argue whether or not Nepal needs to make the transition to more sustainable options, and if and when it does - at what costs? They also talk about the existing policy options that are both working for and going against mobility transition and we also mull over future policy options for a more sustainable transition.

Subina Shrestha is a second-year Ph.D. Research Fellow at the Center for Climate and Energy Transformation at the University of Bergen, Norway. Shrestha’s Ph.D. explores the governance challenges associated with sustainable urban mobility (with an empirical focus on the movement of goods and freight logistics) in Norwegian cities. In her Ph.D., she assesses the current state of and potential for collaboration in urban logistics. By mapping stakeholder networks in the sector as well as engaging with stakeholders, Shrestha’s project explores how urban logistics challenges can be addressed through local solutions which integrate logistics into urban planning. In her research, she adopts broader governance perspectives to assess how they influence local policymaking as well as how different stakeholders shape mobility policy mixes at the urban scale.

She has work experience in Nepal, Thailand, and Norway, and her research interests include sustainable urban transitions, urban mobility, and low-carbon development. She is also interested in bridging perspectives across the Global North and Global South, particularly in climate change discourse. Shrestha enjoys working with different stakeholders to address issues of sustainability in a holistic manner. Prior to her current position, Shrestha worked as a researcher on energy transitions and policymaking, watershed management, stakeholder engagement, as well as climate finance.

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