Nepal pitches regional climate mechanism with India, China to protect Himalayas

Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah has urged India and China to establish a coordinated Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism to address the mounting environmental challenges facing the world's highest mountain range. Speaking at the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Shah emphasised that the warming climate poses an unprecedented threat to the region's delicate ecological balance, particularly following recent devastating flash floods across the Himalayan zone.

Shah highlighted the critical importance of the Hindu Kush Himalaya to global stability, noting that the mountain system sustains nearly two billion people through water resources, agricultural productivity, and diverse ecosystems. "The Himalayas are not peripheral to the planet. They are part of the planet's life-support system," he stated, underscoring why regional cooperation has become essential.

The proposed mechanism would be led jointly by Nepal, India and China and would focus on data-sharing and technical cooperation. By pooling satellite information and scientific expertise, the three nations could establish early warning systems and coordinate responses to climate-related disasters. Shah presented the initiative as an urgent first step toward protecting one of the world's most strategically significant and environmentally sensitive regions.

The proposal reflects growing regional concern about climate impacts in the Himalayas, where glacial melting and extreme weather events have intensified in recent years. Such a mechanism could provide a framework for addressing transboundary environmental challenges that affect multiple nations sharing the mountain range.