Foreign Minister Khanal urges to keep mountain agenda at center of global climate action

'When the mountains are in crisis, all of humanity is in trouble,' he said. 'Our glaciers and mountain peaks, which have formed over thousands of years, are changing rapidly within human lifetimes.

The impact reaches not only mountains but also river systems, economies, ecosystems, and eventually the seas.' Minister Khanal pointed out that climate change risks for Nepal are not just theoretical issues but a reality linked to direct human and physical damage, presenting the devastating flood in Nepal's Himalayan region on August 26 as an example. Referring to the event as a 'Himalayan tsunami,' he explained that the fast-flowing sediment-laden flood caused by the collapse of glaciers and rocks had a serious impact on human lives, bridges, hydropower structures, and the livelihoods of local communities.

He noted that countries like Nepal, which contribute negligibly to global greenhouse gas emissions, bear a disproportionate burden of the climate crisis.