Foreign Minister Khanal urges to keep mountain agenda at center of global climate action
Summary
Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has urged world leaders to put mountain resilience at the center of global climate action, warning that melting glaciers and shrinking snowfields are worsening water, food, and disaster risks. He said Nepal needs grant-based climate finance, stronger early warning systems, and faster loss-and-damage support for vulnerable mountain communities.
Key Points
- Shisir Khanal said the climate crisis in mountain regions is affecting global economies, ecosystems, water security and human life, not just high-altitude areas.
- He described Nepal’s August 26 Himalayan flood as a devastating example of climate-driven damage to lives, bridges, hydropower structures and local livelihoods.
- Nepal outlined five priorities, including deeper emissions cuts, grant-based climate finance, quicker loss-and-damage funding, better monitoring and early warning systems, and formal recognition of mountain issues in the UN climate framework.
- Nepal also proposed the ‘From the Himalaya to the Sea’ partnership and called for stronger international cooperation on the proposed UN Decade of Mountain Resilience.
