Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah has proposed establishing a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism led by his country as well as India and China, in the wake of the recent devastating flash floods in the area.
Shah, in his maiden address to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on Thursday, also told world leaders that a warming climate is destabilising the fragile Himalayan ecology.
“The Hindu Kush Himalaya is home to nearly two billion people. These mountains provide water, ecosystems, agriculture and livelihoods to populations far beyond Nepal. The Himalayas are not peripheral to the planet. They are part of the planet’s life-support system,” Shah said.
“That is why, as an urgent first step, we propose that we establish a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism, led by Nepal, India and China,” Shah said.
He said the mechanism should be used to share satellite data and expertise. Through this mechanism, let us share satellite data and expertise.
“Let us monitor dangerous glacial lakes. Let us strengthen joint early-warning systems. And when disaster strikes, let us coordinate assistance across borders. Let the Himalayas become a laboratory of international cooperation, rather than a frontier of fragmented information,” he said.
“Melting permafrost is fracturing mountain slopes beneath the glaciers and accelerating the risks of ice-rock avalanches, floods, landslides and other cascading hazards. The resulting devastation unleashed havoc on both sides of the Nepal-China border. The flood continued downstream towards India,” he said.
