Nepal represents the voices of countries impacted from climate change, Minister Shahi

Kathmandu, March 6: Minister for Forest and Environment Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri said that Nepal represents the voices of countries that are impacted by the climate change risks.     

Addressing the World Sustainable Development Summit, 2025 in New Delhi of India on Thursday, Minister Shahi said so while emphasizing the severe impacts of climate change on Nepal, according to Minister Shahi's personal secretary Lek Bikram Shahi.     

In his address to the Summit, Minister Shahi called for climate financing to the highly-vulnerable mountainous and least developed countries like Nepal for climate risk reduction and drew attention regarding the existing financing gaps.     

"Nepal is on the frontline of the climate crisis, facing accelerated glacial melt, erratic monsoons, and increasing natural disasters. Despite our negligible contributions to global greenhouse gas emissions, we are bearing a disproportionate burden," Minister Shahi stated.     

Urgent international cooperation, climate finance, and technology transfer are essential to safeguard our mountains, biodiversity, and vulnerable communities, the Minister said.     

Minister Shahi stated that Nepal was facing serious crisis on Nepal's ecosystem, economy and social lives due to the impacts of climate change.     

As the glaciers are melting rapidly, the water supplies and energy security of the South Asian region is at risk, he observed.     

Similarly, Minister Ain shared that Nepal lost nearly 1 billion USD due to the climate induced disasters from 2021 to 2024 and this has pushed the existence of future generation and sustainable development goals (SDGs) into crisis.     

He also shared that Nepal was making final preparations to make its nationally determined contributions (NDC-3) and that greenhouse emissions would be lowered to zero by 2045.     

The World Sustainable Development Summit 2025 is taking place on the theme, ‘Partnerships for Accelerating Sustainable Development and Climate Solutions’.     

The event is expected to explore the role of partnerships in accelerating problem solving and implementation through shared responsibilities, collective action, and collaborative problem solving.(RSS)