Kathmandu: Hon. Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal has called for more effective, reliable and community-centred early warning systems to minimise human casualties and physical damage caused by climate-induced disasters.
Addressing a high-level event titled ‘Early Warnings for All: Delivering on Our Promise to Protect Everyone’ on the sidelines of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Antalya, Türkiye, Khanal said early warning systems were a critical safeguard between life and risk for mountain communities.
Sharing Nepal’s recent experience with climate-induced disasters, he said the country’s early warning system had sent millions of SMS alerts during the initial stages of a disaster, while communities in downstream areas had also received locally issued warnings. However, these measures had not been sufficient, he added.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Minister Khanal highlighted the need to address gaps in high-altitude weather and climate observation systems in the country’s complex mountainous terrain. He called for expanding real-time data collection and transmission technologies, satellite-based systems and cryosphere monitoring, reads a social media post shared by the ministry on Thursday, November 12.
He stressed that reaching vulnerable communities with timely warnings should be the top priority in strengthening early warning systems. Warnings should be communicated in local languages through accessible channels, while preparedness and response measures should be initiated well ahead of potential disasters, he said.
The foreign minister also called for stronger cross-border data sharing and regional cooperation in line with the spirit of Nepal’s ‘Sagarmatha to Sea’ concept.
He urged the international community to ensure predictable, accessible and grant-based climate finance to protect all communities.
Khanal further emphasised the need to expand global solidarity, cooperation and collective efforts to address the cascading impacts of climate change-induced disasters, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
