PM proposes regional mechanism to respond to climate risks in the Himalayas

NEW YORK: Prime Minister Balendra Shah has proposed establishing a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism led by Nepal, India and China to strengthen regional cooperation in responding to the growing climate risks facing the Himalayas.

Addressing the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Shah said the mechanism should facilitate the sharing of satellite data and technical expertise, monitoring of dangerous glacial lakes, joint early-warning systems and coordinated cross-border assistance during disasters.

“Let the Himalayas become a laboratory of international cooperation, rather than a frontier of fragmented information,” Shah said.

Shah’s proposal comes weeks after catastrophic flash floods in the Bhotekoshi River claimed more than 1,400 lives and caused loss of billions of rupees to Nepal. Thousands of people, including foreign tourists, are still missing.

Calling the disaster a warning to the world, Shah said a warming climate was destabilizing the fragile Himalayan ecology.

“Melting permafrost are fracturing mountain slopes beneath the glaciers and accelerating the risks of ice-rock avalanche, floods, landslides and other cascading hazards,” he said.

He said the disaster demonstrated that climate change does not respect national boundaries.

“Climate change does not recognize borders,” Shah said. “Glaciers and floods do not travel with a visa stamped on passports.”

He said the Hindu Kush Himalaya, which is home to nearly two billion people and provides water, ecosystems, agriculture and livelihoods to populations far beyond Nepal, are not peripheral to the planet. They are part of the planet’s life-support system,” he added.

Shah also called for greater international support for countries vulnerable to climate change, saying that Nepal contributes less than 0.1% of global greenhouse-gas emissions but is paying a “colossal price” for the crisis.

He said Nepal’s glaciers are retreating, mountain slopes are becoming unstable and rivers are becoming less predictable, with major disasters threatening to erase years of development.

“For Nepal, climate catastrophe is not just a humanitarian event, but a development emergency,” he said.

Shah said Nepal now faces a massive recovery and reconstruction task following the recent floods. He said at least 1,400 people had been confirmed dead and more than 6,000 remained missing, while rapid assessments had estimated physical recovery needs at about 10% of Nepal’s gross domestic product.

The prime minister thanked India and China for their prompt assistance following the disaster, along with other countries, UN agencies, humanitarian organizations and people around the world who supported Nepal.

Shah also urged developed countries and those with greater capacity to do more under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.

“Climate justice cannot just remain a beautiful phrase in a United Nations document,” he said.

He called for adequate grant-based support for vulnerable countries, saying existing climate financing mechanisms, including the Loss and Damage Fund and Global Environment Facility, remain inadequate.

“When the house is burning, we do not ask the family to complete fifty forms. We act,” Shah said. “That is what climate justice must mean.”

He also called for a shift from ad hoc disaster responses to a culture of preparedness, including greater investment in resilience, insurance, innovation, stronger infrastructure and institutions, and systems capable of warning and saving lives.