Nepal comes up with four proposals for dealing with mountain crises, 53 nations back them

Kathmandu, Oct 30: Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, has said that the crises caused by climate change in the Himalayan region are not confined within the geographical boundaries of just one country.

At a high-level regional dialogue organized on Thursday in Bangkok by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Government of Nepal under the title ‘From Everest to the Sea,’ he said that global cooperation is necessary for mountain conservation.

Minister Shrestha’s secretariat has stated that representatives from 53 countries have supported the four proposals that Nepal presented to the international community to reduce the impacts of climate change and manage cross-border disaster risks.

Nepal has emphasized the need to develop a multi-hazard early warning system based on satellites, artificial intelligence (AI), and modern technology, through collaboration between international space agencies, scientific institutions, and the government, to monitor risky mountain slopes and glaciers.

Minister Shrestha also mentioned that Prime Minister Balendra Shah proposed the ‘Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism’ for coordinating information exchange, glacier monitoring, and early warning systems in the Himalayan region.

Minister Shrestha emphasized that immediate financial assistance should be made available for disaster risk reduction, preparedness, and recovery, and that it should be accessible and grant-based.

He said that in high Himalayan areas, monitoring and early warning should be supported through grants, not loans, and investments in riverside hydropower projects to border towns should be managed by considering the risks from the source to the sea. #rss