KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 13
President Ramchandra Paudel, currently in Baku, Azerbaijan, leading a high-level delegation to the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the UNFCCC, emphasized that climate change is a shared challenge requiring collective understanding and cooperative efforts.
Addressing a special session on "Addressing Loss and Damage in Mountains," hosted by Nepal on the sidelines of the conference, President Paudel underscored the importance of unity among climate-affected nations to deepen understanding and explore practical solutions.
The session was attended by the Presidents of Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, and Azerbaijan, as well as representatives from various countries, development partners, and the media.
President Paudel acknowledged that while every nation feels its climate challenges acutely, recent climate-induced disasters in Nepal have been especially severe.
He noted that three months ago, a glacial lake outburst near Mount Everest swept away the village of Thame, and in the past three months, over 500 lives were lost in Nepal to climate-induced disasters, with physical damages totaling billions of rupees.
He pointed to similar recent disasters, such as floods in Spain and hurricanes in the Caribbean, warning that such crises can strike any nation at any time, underscoring the urgent need for global solidarity in addressing climate challenges.
The President called for integrated cooperation between mountainous and coastal nations and urged them to develop joint programs to mitigate future climate impacts. He emphasized the responsibility of developed, high-emission countries to provide additional support to the nations most vulnerable to climate change.
President Paudel urged COP29 to prioritize mobilizing climate finance to tackle these urgent issues and advocated for the inclusion of loss and damage in the New Collective Quantified Goals (NCQG) for climate finance, recognizing the broad-ranging impacts of climate change.
In closing, he recited a traditional Shanti (peace) prayer in Sanskrit, invoking peace across all realms-the heavens, sky, earth, waters, plants, and trees.
He expressed gratitude to all participants and reiterated his call for global cooperation in nature conservation.
