KATHMANDU, MARCH 23

Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba has said mountains lie at the hot spot of the quagmire of climate change.

Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day Regional Policy Dialogue on Sustainable Mountain Solutions organised as part of the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development here today, Prime Minister Deuba said, 'The mountains and the people living in the mountainous regions continue to confront several difficulties. Poverty, food insecurity, environmental degradation, risk of disasters and limited access to basic services are the challenges that the mountainous regions increasingly confront.'

'The mountains and the people there are not only barometers of global warming but also the victims of disproportionate impact despite negligible emissions of mountainous countries like Nepal,' PM Deuba reminded, adding that the world had not done enough to address environmental degradation. According to him, inadequate efforts to check the impacts have triggered the crisis to the proportion beyond control. 'We need to take urgent measures to halt global temperature rise to secure the future of humanity.

Nepal has adopted an ambitious roadmap to achieve net-zero carbon emission by 2045. We call upon the international community for meaningful support in our efforts.'

PM Deuba further said many scientific studies of extremes weather patterns reveal that mountainous regions are getting warmer much faster than the global average. Several evidences of melting snow, glacier retreat, drought, erratic rainfall, and flood are already hints of a cautionary tale. 'Commitment-delivery gap erodes credibility of international cooperation.

We must not suffer from inadequacy of commitment, action, and delivery on development outcomes. The commitment-delivery gap will erode the credibility of international cooperation,' PM Deuba said, seeking true partnership to realise the SDGs by all.

He viewed that agenda for sustainable mountain development had always been a priority for Nepal. Deuba reminded, 'We raised our voice in Glasgow during the COP 26.

But there is a long way to go for mainstreaming mountain agenda in climate negotiations.

We need stronger collaboration among mountainous countries in UN Climate change negotiations to address our agenda. Nepal will continue to play an active role in global forums in a bid to address the concerns of mountainous countries.'

PM Deuba underscored the need to not leave the mountainous regions behind as the world is in the decade of action to deliver on sustainable development goals. To address the challenges, guarantee of adequate financing – both internal as well as external – is imperative.

Nature-based solution is the key to ecological needs.

Moreover, PM Deuba said that in quest of recovery from COVID-19, the mountainous countries require further cooperation and support from the international community.

He laid emphasis on the preservation of indigenous cultures, generation of employment opportunities, and guarantee of development of sustainable infrastructure were equally imperative.

A version of this article appears in the print on March 24, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.