Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah has called for a new Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism to unite regional rivals India and China in tackling shared climate threats. Speaking at the recent UN General Assembly, Mr Shah highlighted the growing risk of climate-related disasters in the Himalayas, referencing devastating debris floods that hit Nepal in August.
The proposed mechanism would focus on strengthening cross-border disaster response and facilitating the sharing of scientific data and expertise in the environmentally fragile and geopolitically sensitive Himalayan region. Mr Shah stated, "Let the Himalayas become a laboratory of international co-operation rather than a frontier of fragmented information."
A senior official from Nepal's foreign ministry indicated that the proposal is in its early stages, with the ministry working on a preliminary framework. India and China have not yet formally responded to the initiative. Previous attempts at collaboration on Himalayan environmental issues between the two nations, such as a 2009 joint research project on glaciers, have reportedly made little progress.
The Himalayan region faces an urgent climate threat, with temperatures rising faster than the global average, leading to accelerated glacier retreat and permafrost thaw. This contributes to increased risks of landslides, rockfalls, avalanches, and glacial lake outburst floods, which can cross national boundaries.