ANTALYA, Türkiye,Nov, 10: Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has urged the international community to ensure climate justice and take concrete action to address the growing risks posed by climate change in mountainous regions.
Addressing the opening session of the 31st Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which began in Antalya on Monday, Khanal said stronger international commitments and effective implementation were essential to protect mountain ecosystems and minimise the impacts of climate change.
“Nepal has come here in search of climate justice. The 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature limit must be secured for the mountains, and a dedicated action plan on mountains and climate change is necessary,” he said.
Although Nepal contributes negligibly to global greenhouse gas emissions, Khanal noted that the Himalayan region, which supports the lives and livelihoods of a large global population, is melting at an alarming rate.
Highlighting Nepal’s climate efforts, he said nearly half of the country’s land area is covered by community-managed forests, hydropower is a major source of energy, and more than 70 per cent of newly purchased passenger vehicles are electric.
Khanal said Nepal, Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan had jointly pushed to include mountain-related issues on the formal agenda of COP31. He stressed that mountain ecosystems, which cover around 27 per cent of the world’s land area and directly affect approximately 15 per cent of the global population, must receive greater priority in international climate negotiations.
While welcoming the constructive discussions and progress among the participating countries, he said the achievements so far remained insufficient to meet Nepal’s expectations.
The foreign minister urged Türkiye, as the COP31 presidency, the previous presidency and all parties to incorporate three key priorities into consultations and final decisions on mountains and climate change.
These include giving special priority to the 1.5°C temperature limit for mountain regions, developing a dedicated action plan on mountains and climate change, and integrating mountain-specific indicators into global adaptation frameworks and the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance.
Expressing gratitude for the international community’s sympathy and solidarity following Nepal’s recent disasters, Khanal stressed the need to translate such support into concrete assistance and action.
“Following the disaster, we received widespread sympathy from the international community. Now is the time to turn sympathy into systems and commitments into implementation,” he said.
He reaffirmed Nepal’s commitment to working with international partners to protect mountain communities, strengthen climate adaptation and advance climate justice. He also called on participating nations to demonstrate stronger solidarity with Nepal and mountain communities worldwide.
Earlier, Khanal congratulated the newly elected COP31 presidency and expressed gratitude to the government and people of Türkiye for hosting the conference.
He also reiterated Nepal’s support for positions presented by the Group of 77 and China, the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and the Mountain Group.
