BAKU (AZERBAIJAN), Nov 16: Discussions have been held on the impact of climate change in the Himalayas during the High Level Meeting of the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) under way here.
In the programme organized by the COP Presidency on Friday–the fifth day of COP 29–, Nepal called attention of the global community towards the consequences of climate change on the ecosystem in the Himalayan region.
Addressing the meeting on behalf the Minister for Forests and Environment Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri, Ministry's Secretary Dr Deepak Kumar Kharal had drawn the attention of the world towards the significance of the mountain region in maintaining the ecological balance in the world and towards the impact of the climate change in the Himalayas and the required actions to mitigate the impact.
This is the first time discussions have been held on the issues of the Himalayas in the meeting called by the COP Presidency for determining the agendas for deliberation at the Conference.
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Prior to this, President Ramchandra Paudel had, in his statement delivered to the COP29 Opening Session, highlighted how the climate change impact in the Himalayas was affecting the downstream areas including the coastal region.
According to Manjit Dhakal, the climate advisor to Minister Shahi, who attended the meeting, various countries referred to this topic while expressing their views in the meeting.
Nepal had put the demand that the issues of the Himalayas be discussed like this in every COP. Nations like Bhutan, Tanzania and others had backed Nepal's this proposal.
Meanwhile, Minister Shahi and UK Minister for Climate Kerry McCarthy had a meeting here on Friday. The brief meeting between the two ministers took place following a programme on Carbon Trading organized as part of the COP 29.
During the meeting, Minister Shahi put his views on the adverse impact of climate change and assistance to minimize the impact among other topics.
Delivering his statement in the Carbon Trade session before this, Minister Shahi said that Nepal has been making efforts for policy, legal and structural reforms for promotion of carbon trade. He said that the 'Leaf Coalition Agreement' and amendment to the Environment Regulation was in the final stage, according to Pratap Poudel, expert on climate policy.
COP29 opened here on November 11. The Heads of State and Government and Environment Ministers from COP member nations who have gathered here made their national statements in the High Level session of the COP29 on November 12 and 13.
The UNFCCC Secretariat has stated that the Heads of State and Government from 80 countries had addressed the session.
