It is a partnership of United Nations in Nepal and Yeti Airlines. Yeti Airlines is a private domestic Airlines in Nepal, which has joined hands with UN in Nepal to promote SDGs. (use #UNYETI4SDGs in Social media). Under this partnership, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Nepal has partnered with the Yeti Airlines Pvt Ltd. in a campaign in 2018 called “Everest Clean Up Campaign”, where the airlines has collected around 38,905 kilograms of waste from 1st January 2018 till 25th December 2018 and aims to airlift around 100 tons of waste from the Everest through this campaign and support the SDGs, especially SDG 12.

At the towering height of 8,848 meters Mt. Everest - also known as Sagarmatha and Chomolungma - is a major attraction for trekkers and alpinists across the world. Travelers to the region are enchanted by the natural beauty of the pristine rivers, lakes and glaciers inside the Sagarmatha National Park. Approximately 46,000 trekkers visited the Everest region and around 700 mountaineers attempted to climb Mt. Everest in 2017 alone. These visitors bring valuable tourism dollars that help the economy of the Everest region and Nepal as a whole, providing sustainable livelihoods to many. However with the growing number of visitors, the region is also facing a growing environmental threat from the waste generated by tourism activities. Despite rigorous efforts from the rural municipalities and local conservation organisations, managing the large volume of waste in this remote Himalayan region remains a challenge.

Since 2008, Yeti Airlines and it’s subsidiary Tara Air have been actively involved in assisting the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), a local environmental conservation organisation , and the Himalayan Club Lukla, remove non-burnable and non-biodegradable waste from the region to be recycled in Kathmandu. Most of this category of waste is comprised of empty beer bottles and cans, empty food tins, discarded mountaineering and trekking equipment. This year the airlines, as a part of it’s commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) against Climate Change, has set an ambitious target of flying out 100 tons of waste from the Everest region with the support of it’s campaign partners. The waste will then be handed over to the recycling firm Blue Waste to Value for further treatment.

As a part of its ongoing partnership with UNDP Nepal, Yeti Airlines is working actively in reducing carbon footprint, promoting climate action [SDG 13] and conserving environment through reduction, recycling and management of wastes [SDG12].The inaugural clean up flight has been officially flagged off from Lukla airport on March 17, 2018 by dignitaries from the UNDP and officials from the airlines and the campaign support partners.

The key beneficiaries are community people who are in tourism and business and the tourists. Main stakeholders are the 3 community organizations situated at the Everest region: 1. Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC): SPCC is a non-governmental organization (NGO) the aim of managing waste in the Everest region within the Sagarmatha National Park (SNP) 2. Himalaya Club Lukla : Himalaya Club Luklais a local NGO established by the people of Lukla 3. Blue Waste to Value (BW2V): Blue Waste to Value, is a social enterprise dedicated to creating value from waste by promoting recycling and creating green jobs.

The airline aims to airlift around 100 tons of waste from the Everest as Everest Cleanup Campaign making it the airlines CSR program for Waste Management and Environmental Awareness since 2008 in the Everest region, wherein till now has collected around 38,905 kilograms of wastage from 1st January 2018 till 25th December 2018. Following is the implementation mechanism:

The SPCC collects waste from the town of Namche Bazaar, the largest settlement in the Khumbu region, and the trekking trail villages of Pheriche, Pangboche, Phakding, Thame, Gokyo and Gorakshep. Burnable and biodegradable waste is disposed off at their incinerators at different locations in the region. For the clean up campaign the non-burnable and non- biodegradable waste is brought down to Lukla airport.

While the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), a local environmental conservation organization and the Himalaya Club Lukla, coordinates the collection of wastes in the Everest region, Blue Waste to Value, a recycling firm in Kathmandu recycles the wastes, as part of its agreement with SPCC. The wastes comprise mostly empty beer bottles and cans, empty food tins, and discarded mountaineering and trekking equipment.

The airline also extended support to SDG by providing support to ‘Ek Ek Paila’, an initiative launched by a group of doctors and volunteers with the aim of providing free health services to the people living in the remote rural areas. To support ‘EK EK Paila’ Campaign, the airlines provided special fare to participants of the initiative that will help to promote the 3rd SDG – Good Health and Well-being in addition to its ongoing promotion of other SDGs like Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), Climate Change (SDG13), Biodiversity Conservation (SDG 15) and partnership (SDG 17) in Nepal.

As this campaign started from 2018 and quite recent, there has not been a post assessment; hence we are not in a position now to anticipate change in status and trends. Till now through Everest Clean Up Campaign , the airlines has collected around 38,905 kilograms of waste from 1st January 2018 till 25th December 2018 and aims to airlift around 100 tons of waste from the Everest through this campaign and support the SDGs, especially SDG 12. The waste collection area and mass is as follows:

Non-biodegradable Waste Collection Area Details Quantity(KG)

1 Gorakshep/Gokyo 10,000
2 Pheriche/Pangboche/Thame 10,000
3 Namche Bazaar 50,000
4 Phakding/Monju 20,000
5 Lukla Collection Site 10,000
Total 100,000

Few evidence: https://www.aviationnepal.com/yeti-airlines-sustainable-development-program-collects-more-than-38000-kg-of-waste/

Enabling factors were the enthusiasm and the interest of the Yeti Airlines Pvt Ltd. to work with UN in Nepal and UNDP in Nepal in promoting SDGs. UNDP in Nepal's interest to bring private sector on board to mainstream and implement the SDGs is also one of the enabling factor.

Yeti Airlines look dedicated and UNDP is also willing to give its support on technical side.

This partnership is one of its kind and can be considered as a good practice by a wide range of development agencies

1. Yeti Airways website: https://www.yetiairlines.com/article/everest-clean-up-campaign-2018
2. UNDP website: http://www.np.undp.org/content/nepal/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2018/yeti-airlines-tara-air-to-airlift-100-tons-of-waste-to-clean-up-everest-in-2018.html