SYANGBOCHE: The historic cabinet meeting at Kala Patthar, in the foothills of Mt. Everest at a height of 18,192 feet above sea level concluded successfully. The meeting which was organised in a bid to draw national and international attention to climate change was attended by Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and 23 ministers. Though the meeting was expected to run for around 20 minutes from 8:30 am, it was extended to nearly an hour owing to the favourable weather.

Addressing the historic meet, the PM said that the issues regarding climate change were not restricted only to the mountainous nations but was relevant to the whole world. He sought initiatives from the nations which produce large amounts of carbon emissions to address the issues regarding climate change at the earliest.

The cabinet decided to extend the territories of Api-Nampa conservation area in Darchula, Gauri Shankar conservation area in Ramechhap and Dolakha and Bardiya National Park. The cabinet also added Banke National Park as a new national park.

The cabinet also organised a press conference about the decisions taken by the historic cabinet meeting. Speaking at the press meet the PM unveiled a ten point ‘Everest Declaration’ which states that Nepal is ready to collaborate with all the countries to preserve the Himalayan regions. The PM thanked everyone for making the meet a resounding success. The members of the Sherpa community also performed their traditional dance during the press meet.

Today’s historic meeting also set the agenda for the upcoming Copenhagen summit in Denmark which will be attended by a team led by the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister, ministers and other officials are returning to the capital via Lukla today.

A team of around 110 comprising the 24 Nepali ministers, journalists both national and international, health and technical teams arrived in Lukla on Thursday, a day prior to the historic meet to adjust to the ‘high altitude’ weather which requires at least six hours for the human body to adapt to.

Though the meeting was expected to be attended by all the cabinet ministers, three ministers--Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Minister for Defence, Rajendra Mahato, Minister for Commerce and Supplies and Indra Prasad Dhungel, State Minister for Science and Technology, failed to accompany the team. Bhandari and Dhungel pulled out owing to health reasons while Mahato is abroad to attend a WTO ministerial meeting.