ANTALYA, Nov 12: As the COP31 presidency declined to include Nepal and Bhutan’s proposal on Himalayan climate vulnerability in the conference’s formal agenda, leading climate activist Harjeet Singh has criticised developed countries for their reluctance to address the mounting climate crisis facing Himalayan communities.
Despite sustained diplomatic efforts by Nepal and Bhutan to secure recognition of mountain-specific climate concerns, the COP31 presidency has stopped short of accepting their proposal as a formal agenda item. Instead, it has agreed to pursue further consultations and research on the issue.
Reacting to the development, Singh said the proposal for a new agenda item, titled ‘1.5°C in the Mountains’, was particularly urgent in the wake of recent climate disasters in the Himalayas.
"In the light of recent climate disasters, Nepal and Bhutan have proposed a new agenda item, ‘1.5°C in the Mountains’, for the COP31 summit. They want the needs of mountain communities built into adaptation, climate finance and loss-and-damage frameworks," Singh said.
"Communities on the frontline are losing more than they can recover from, despite having contributed the least to the climate crisis."
Developed countries must be responsible for compensating climat...
Singh, who is also the global convenor of the Fill the Fund campaign and a strategic partnership adviser to the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative, said the failure to secure a formal place for the mountain agenda reflected a wider reluctance among developed countries to address climate-related loss and damage and their historical responsibilities.
" COP31 must be about justice. This shows the aversion of developed countries to addressing loss and damage and their obligations. Risks facing mountain and downstream communities must not be reduced to empty dialogue," he said.
He stressed that commitments made at climate conferences must translate into concrete financial support for vulnerable countries rather than remain confined to declarations and diplomatic discussions.
"It must materialise into loss-and-damage finance that is equitable, accessible and adequate for developing countries," he said.
Warning against sidelining the financial needs of climate-vulnerable communities, Singh said the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage must not once again be relegated to the footnotes of international climate negotiations.
"Disasters in the Himalayas are not simply natural events. They are fuelled by the expansion of fossil fuels and the historic emissions of the developed world," he said.
He also urged Nepal and Bhutan to use their diplomatic influence to hold countries accountable for obstructing progress on mountain climate justice.
"Nepal and Bhutan have shown genuine climate leadership and must now call out the countries obstructing progress. Expressions of sympathy in speeches are meaningless if they are repeatedly prevented from becoming real, grant-based finance for vulnerable countries on the frontline," Singh said.
The Nepal-Bhutan proposal seeks to bring the specific vulnerabilities of mountain ecosystems and communities into the mainstream of global climate negotiations, particularly in relation to adaptation, climate finance and loss and damage.
The two Himalayan countries have argued that rising temperatures, accelerating glacier loss, changing snow patterns and climate-induced disasters pose growing risks not only to mountain populations but also to millions of people living downstream.
Their proposal comes amid growing concerns over the disproportionate impacts of global warming on the Hindu Kush Himalaya, one of the world's most climate-sensitive mountain regions.
While the COP31 presidency's decision to pursue further consultations keeps the issue under consideration, the absence of a dedicated formal agenda item has raised questions about whether the concerns of mountain countries will receive the political attention and financial commitments they have been demanding.
