Hon. Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has called for mountain resilience to be placed at the centre of global climate negotiations, urging countries to step up efforts to address the rapidly worsening impacts of climate change on glaciers and mountain ecosystems.
Addressing a high-level event titled ‘Advancing the Mountain Agenda: Glaciers, Cryosphere and Resilience under Overshoot, Shared Responsibility and Sustainable Financing’ on the sidelines of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, on Thursday, November 12, Khanal said the crisis facing mountains was also a crisis for humanity.
“When mountains are in crisis, humanity is in crisis. Our glaciers and towering peaks took millennia to form, yet many are vanishing within a single human lifetime,” he said.
Recalling the devastating impacts of the August 26 ‘Himalayan Tsunami’ in Nepal, Khanal urged COP31 to mark a turning point in moving mountain resilience from the margins of climate negotiations to the centre of global climate action, according to a social media post by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He called for ambitious emissions reductions in line with the 1.5-degree Celsius goal and predictable, accessible and grant-based climate finance, rather than loans, to support adaptation, resilient infrastructure and sustainable livelihoods.
Khanal also stressed the need for effective loss and damage arrangements to ensure swift, direct and equitable funding for vulnerable mountain communities. He called for stronger scientific research, glacier monitoring at high altitudes, satellite observation networks and regional data sharing to strengthen multi-hazard early warning systems.
The foreign minister further urged greater political recognition of mountain-specific risks under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process.
He also called for a stronger ‘Sagarmatha to the Sea’ partnership linking mountain and ocean communities and support for the proposed UN Decade for Mountain Resilience.
