Nepal urges climate justice for Himalayas at COP31

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. “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. 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.