Kathmandu, May 1: The Embassy of Nepal in Beijing, in collaboration with the Silk Road City Alliances, jointly organized an event “Climate Change Impacts and Conserving the Himalayas” with an aim of exchanging views on the need for global efforts to combat climate crisis on the Himalayas.
Held prior to the first edition of the “Sagarmatha Sambaad” being hosted in Nepal on 16-18 May 2025,” the event also aimed to create a momentum for enhancing thinking to combat climate change impacts in The Himalayas, the embassy said in a statement.
In a video message, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli highlighted the adverse impacts of climate change in the Himalayas and Xizang Plateau that holds a large concentration of snow and glaciers outside the polar region and that are vital sources of fresh water.
He elucidated “the region functions as heat sinks and regulates monsoon system which is vital for stabilizing our planet’s climate and ocean ecosystem. It is also the life line for over 2 billion people. This resource has been seriously threatened due to global temperature rise caused by greenhouse gas emissions.”
Speaking about the climate change perils on the economic and livelihood activities of people, the Prime Minister Oli expressed that the humanity in the region is facing existential threat due to climatic disasters. Prime Minister Oli not only urged the international community to undertake joint action of adaptation and mitigation to conserve this global natural heritage, but also stressed the need of continuous advocacy for climate justice and climate financing. He informed about the significance of Sagarmatha Sambaad inspiring the continuation of the global action on climate change as well.
In his welcome remarks, Dr. Krishna Prasad Oli, Ambassador of Nepal to the People’s Republic of China, underlined the grave impacts of the climate change in the Himalayan and Xizang Plateau. He delineated the critical climate landscape caused by catastrophic spikes of
temperature causing worst erratic weather extremes and loss of biodiversity and livelihood.
Acknowledging the global innovative climate solutions to the disastrous impacts of climate change, Ambassador Oli appreciated the global actions undertaken by China, India, the European Union and other countries. He expressed his confidence that these evolving innovative solutions would contribute significantly to curbing the GHG emissions and enhance positively to the ongoing discourse of the climate change impacts.
Liu Zhenmin, Special Envoy for Climate Change of the People’s Republic of China mentioned about China’s national and global efforts in preventing the impacts of the climate change on fragile mountain ecosystems. He appraised the climate adaptation efforts of China that
promotes nature-based solutions, strengthen disaster risk management and enhance resilience of vulnerable communities. He stressed the need of joint action towards adaptation through investment in early warning systems, resilient infrastructure, ecosystem restoration, and community-based measures while gearing towards mitigation through knowledge exchange and technology transfer.
Dr. Patricia Hildegard Flor, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the People’s Republic of China, underscored the need of global action to curtail the worse impacts of climate and the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement while reflecting on the Sino-German climate partnership.
Mr. Siddhartha Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, stressed the importance of meaningful engagement of multilateral approach in resolving the climate crisis, particularly the need of fostering international cooperation to support the most vulnerable communities that are disproportionately affected by its impacts.
In the event, the presentations were made by Dr. Manish Pandey, Head of the Department of Climate Change at the National Trust for Nature Conservation of Nepal, Dr. D.B. Kattel,
Associate Professor at the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Mr. Ma Jun from the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs of China explored the means and ways of fighting climate crisis while urging the world to conserve the Himalayas and protect the planet.
Participants actively engaged in the interactions following the presentations. The forum also felicitated the winners of the essay and painting competitions held under the same theme among the primary and middle school students of China. The Embassy handed over the
certificate to the Zhongjing Agricultural Group for sponsoring the event. The forum further featured cultural performances and trees planting activity.
In the second session, Mr. Laxmi Niraula, Consul General of Nepal to Lhasa; Mr. Bharat Khanal, Consul General of Nepal to Guangzhou and Ms. Sabita Nakarmi, Counsellor of the Embassy made presentations on investment climate in Nepal amid the prospective investors of China.
The program was attended by approximately one hundred twenty participants including Chinese government officials, diplomatic envoys in Beijing including Ambassadors from various countries, professors, climate experts, representatives of non-government organization, media, students and Chinese business communities. #climate #Sagarmatha #nepal #china
