Kathmandu, November 10
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.
Addressing the opening session of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which began in Antalya, Türkiye, on Monday, Khanal called for concrete international commitments and effective implementation to protect the Himalayas and minimise 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. He stressed that the concerns of the Himalayan region, which accounts for around 27 per cent of the world’s land area and 15 per cent of its population, should receive greater attention in international climate negotiations.
Welcoming the progress made through constructive discussions among the parties, Khanal said the achievements so far remained insufficient to meet Nepal’s expectations.
He urged Türkiye, the previous COP presidency and all participating countries to incorporate three key priorities into consultations and final decisions on mountain and climate change.
These include giving special priority to the 1.5-degree Celsius temperature limit for mountain regions, developing a dedicated action plan for mountains and climate change, and integrating mountain-specific indicators into the global goal on adaptation and the new collective quantified climate finance goal.
Khanal also thanked the international community for its sympathy and solidarity following recent disasters in Nepal, stressing the need to translate those expressions of support into concrete assistance.
“Following the disaster, we received widespread sympathy from the international community. Now is the time to turn sympathy into systems and commitments into implementation,” he said.
He reaffirmed Nepal’s commitment to working with international partners to protect Himalayan communities, strengthen climate adaptation and advance climate justice. He also called on participating nations to demonstrate stronger solidarity with Nepal and Himalayan communities.
Earlier, Khanal congratulated the newly elected COP31 presidency and expressed gratitude to the government and people of Türkiye for hosting the conference.
