Kathmandu [Nepal], November 9 – Nepal is highlighting Himalayan flood losses at the UN climate conference seeking action on climate justice, mountain resilience and climate finance.
The 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) opened in Antalya, Türkiye, on Monday and will run until November 20. Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal leads Nepal’s delegation and is scheduled to address the opening plenary. Agriculture, Forests and Environment Minister Geeta Chaudhary will lead technical sessions while Health and Food Safety Minister Nisha Mehta will highlight climate-related health risks.
Nepal plans to cite floods in the Bhotekoshi, Budhi Gandaki, Lende Khola and Thame areas as examples of growing dangers facing mountain communities. The Bhotekoshi disaster killed more than 1,450 people and left over 5,000 missing.
Kathmandu will seek predictable funding from the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage alongside adaptation finance, technology transfer and support for vulnerable mountain countries. Nepal’s position paper calls for action to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
Nepal will host more than 40 events at its national pavilion. On November 12, it will hold a mountain agenda event with Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan and Pakistan. It also plans a carbon-trading memorandum with South Korea.
