Nepal urges global community to ensure climate justice for Himalayan region at COP31

Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal has urged the international community to ensure climate justice for the Himalayan region, which is increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. “ Nepal has come here in search of climate justice. We must ensure the 1.5-degree Celsius temperature limit for the Himalayas and develop a dedicated action plan for mountains and climate change,” he said.

Khanal noted that although Nepal’s contribution to global climate change is negligible, the Himalayan region, which supports the lives and livelihoods of a large global population, is melting at an alarming rate. Highlighting Nepal’s efforts towards environmental conservation, he said nearly half of the country’s land area is covered by community-managed forests. He also pointed to the country’s hydropower generation and the fact that more than 70 per cent of newly purchased consumer vehicles in Nepal are electric.

The minister said Nepal, Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan had jointly pushed to include mountain and climate change issues on the formal agenda of COP31.