Urgent global action is needed to save the HKH that supports over two billion people
Marking the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt Everest, around 1,000 people, including the former prime minister of New Zealand and hundreds of earth scientists, have appealed to all the governments and communities to save the snow-capped mountains from global warming. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa first scaled the world's tallest mountain on May 29, 1953, and since then, it has been undergoing unprecedented and irreversible change largely in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, which extends 3,500 km across eight countries, due to global warming. Scientists have projected that around two-thirds of the glaciers in the region, including the Khumbu glacier, will disappear soon. The 79 glaciers surrounding the Everest region have thinned by over 100 metres in just six decades, and the thinning rate has nearly doubled since 2009. As per the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the HKH has already felt the dangerous impacts of global warming, such as heat waves, droughts, natural disasters, unpredictable snowfall, and precipitous and irreversible glacial melt. An urgent global action is needed to protect livelihoods of the two billion people of this region and to safeguard the countless irreplaceable lifeforms that exist only in the region.
The HKH region has been affected due to the unprecedented greenhouse emissions (GHE), resultingfrom the burning of coal and fossil fuel far away from the region. The communities living close to the HKH are making negligible contribution to the GHE, but they are feeling the pressure of snow melt on the mountains.
Burning of coal and fossil fuel to run indus-fossil fuel to run industries, transportation and economic activities in China, India and other parts of the world has had telling impact on the HKH region, which is also the major source of more than a dozen rivers, while also serving as a fresh water tower. A study carried out by a group of scientists way back in the 1990s had revealed layers of deposits of radioactive particles in the icesheet of the Everest region. They said the radioactive particles were found in the Himalayas due to nuclear tests conducted by China, India and Pakistan.
Since the first ascent of Everest, thousands of people from across the globe embark on mountaineering expeditions and trekking to the Khumbu region, which has helped uplift the living conditions of the people. The government has also collected more than $5 million in revenue by issuing climbing permits for Everest this year. During the spring climbing season, an experienced guide can earn up to $10,000, which is several times the country's average annual income. But the unprecedented number of people climbing Everest and Lhotse every year has turned them into the world's highest garbage dump and burial ground. Nepal's mountains will lose their charm if no concrete plans are worked out to control the number of people attempting to scale the peaks.
Therefore, the Nepal government and the local communities, or the Sherpas, must sit together to limit the number of climbing permits. Anthropogenic activities in the highly fragile mountains have also contributed to the fast-melting and shrinking of the glaciers that are vital for the survival of millions of lives and the ecosystem in the HKH region.
Footwear industry
Since the 1990 political change that ushered in multi-party democracy in the country, one government after another has been involved in destroying Nepal's industry. The nineties saw the privatisation of well-running state-owned industries that were built with the financial assistance of the former Soviet Union and China, such as the Birgunj Sugar Mill, Bansbari Leather and Shoe Factory and Harisiddhi Brick and Tile Factory. Still others like the Hetauda Textile Mill, Agriculture Tools Factory, Gorakhkali Tyre Udhyog and Janakpur Cigarette Factory have been shut down. These industries would have not only substituted imports and boosted the government revenue but also provided employment to thousands of workers.
For one reason or the other, entrepreneurs complain that the government is not serious about promoting industry in Nepal. The footwear industry that employs about 55, 000 people is one such sector that has been struggling to survive the government's apathy towards curbing smuggling or providing incentives for its expansion. A few of Nepal's footwear brands are already making waves abroad, and the government has the onus to provide them incentives to compete in the external and internal markets.
A version of this article appears in the print on May 30, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.
