Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has urged the international community to ensure climate justice by addressing the growing risks facing the Himalayan region due to climate change, calling for stronger global commitments and concrete action to protect mountain ecosystems.
Addressing the opening plenary of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which began in Antalya, Turkey, on Monday, Khanal said the international community must demonstrate a firm commitment and ensure the effective implementation of measures to protect the Himalayas and minimise the impacts of climate change.
“Nepal has come here in search of climate justice. The 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature limit must be ensured for the Himalayas, and a dedicated action plan on mountains and climate change is necessary,” Khanal said.
Although Nepal contributes little to global greenhouse gas emissions, its Himalayan glaciers are melting at an alarming rate. The Himalayan region sustains the lives and livelihoods of a large proportion of the world’s population, he said.
Highlighting Nepal’s efforts towards climate action, Khanal said nearly half of the country’s geographical area is covered by community-managed forests, the country is increasingly relying on hydropower for electricity generation, and more than 70 percent of newly purchased passenger vehicles are electric.
Khanal said Nepal, Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan had jointly pushed to include mountains and climate change as a formal agenda item at COP31, arguing that the Himalayan region deserved greater priority in international climate negotiations.
He noted that mountain regions cover approximately 27 percent of the world’s land area and are home to around 15 percent of the global population, making their protection a matter of international concern.
While welcoming the constructive discussions and progress made by parties on the issue, Khanal said the progress achieved so far remained insufficient to meet Nepal’s expectations.
He urged Turkey, the previous COP presidency and all parties to incorporate three key priorities into consultations and final decisions on mountains and climate change.
He outlined three priorities: ensuring that global warming is limited to 1.5°C, with particular attention to the Himalayas; developing a dedicated action plan on mountains and climate change; and incorporating mountain-specific indicators into global frameworks for climate adaptation and finance, including the Global Goal on Adaptation and the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance.
Expressing gratitude to the international community for the sympathy and solidarity Nepal received following recent disasters, Khanal said such expressions of support must now be translated into tangible assistance and concrete action.
“Following the disaster, we received widespread sympathy from the international community. Now is the time to translate sympathy into systems and commitments into implementation,” Khanal said.
He reiterated Nepal’s commitment to working with international partners to protect mountain communities, strengthen climate adaptation and advance climate justice. He also called on all countries participating in COP31 to demonstrate greater solidarity with Nepal and mountain communities across the world.
Earlier, Khanal congratulated the COP31 leadership and thanked the government and people of Turkey for hosting the conference.
He also reaffirmed Nepal’s support for the positions presented by the Group of 77 and China, the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and the Mountain Group.
Anil Giri is a Chief Sub Editor covering diplomacy, international relations and national politics for The Kathmandu Post. Giri has been working as a journalist for more than two decades, contributing to numerous national and international media outlets.
