Ensure Climate Justice

Unbearable heat waves have repeatedly forced school closures and kept people out of work across the Tarai belt. Extreme weather events have brought increasingly catastrophic flash floods to one region and devastating droughts in another. Blackening of once snow-clad mountains and rapidly retreating of glaciers have not only jeopardised the critical supply of freshwater that nearly two billion people downstream rely on but have also disincentivised prospective tourists from visiting the country. Rising temperatures in the highlands have created an environment conducive to tropical diseases, including mosquito-borne diseases, to sweep the regions. Unable to carry on with traditional occupations of animal rearing and cultivating crops as water sources dry up, rainfall becomes increasingly erratic and pasture land dwindles, people in the mountainous areas have been forced to relocate. And the list goes on. 

Climate change is no longer an abstract future problem; it's already a lived reality for countless Nepalis. The fallout of climate change is already profoundly reshaping the nation's environment, daily life, and the economy. The country contributes negligibly to global greenhouse gas emissions but faces disproportionate impacts. The affluent nations are largely responsible for the climate crisis, yet they are in a better position to weather it. To address this gap and ensure climate justice for most climate-vulnerable countries, conference after conference has been held internationally. One such climate meeting was recently held in Gokyo, a high-altitude settlement in Solukhumbu, on the occasion of 'Earth Day 2026'. The conference concluded on Wednesday with the release of the 9-point 'Gokyo Climate Declaration 2026'. 

The declaration calls for urgent action to tackle the growing impacts of climate change in Nepal's Himalayan region, highlighting the growing vulnerability of high mountain areas. It also urges immediate steps for both climate adaptation and scientific research, stressing the need to promote low-carbon and sustainable livelihoods, including eco-friendly tourism, climate-resilient agriculture, renewable energy and energy efficiency. One of the striking achievements of the conference is that it saw the participants commit to advancing a low-carbon development pathway to reduce environmental risks while supporting local economies. The key focus of the declaration is strengthening local and indigenous knowledge systems. Besides, it calls for greater investment in climate education and awareness, while ensuring that women, youth and local communities play a leading role in climate action.

Importantly, the declaration stresses climate justice, calling for climate response to be inclusive, rights-based and equitable, as well as meaningful participation of indigenous groups, youth and marginalised communities at all levels of decision-making. Participants urged governments, international agencies and development partners to ensure fair and timely access to climate finance, technology transfer and capacity-building support. The declaration highlights the need for vulnerable countries like Nepal. What's more, it calls on the government to take a leading role in climate diplomacy by uniting mountain nations and raising Himalayan issues in international forums. Additionally, the declaration suggests reviewing existing laws and formulating new policies to prioritise environmental justice and strengthen legal responses to climate challenges. 

The conference drew attention to the increasing risks in the Khumbu region, particularly around Gokyo Lake and the Ngozumpa Glacier. Participants called for detailed risk mapping to address the threat of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and stressed the importance of early warning systems, disaster preparedness and resilient infrastructure. "A stitch in time saves nine," goes an adage. Concrete efforts must be made to install and make widely accessible early warning systems that can go a long way in not only mitigating disaster risks in the fragile region but also save people in the event of a calamity, and also to respond to the demands made by the conference.