Nepal to host climate change conference in April next year as part of Sagarmatha Dialogue

Published On: September 12, 2019 02:17 PM NPT By: Santosh Ghimire | @journonepali

Foreign Minister Gyawali chairing the first meeting of the Steering Committee of Sagarmatha Dialogue on August 23 at MoFA. (Photo courtesy: MoFA)

KATHMANDU, Sept 12: As part of the newly-launched initiative called Sagarmatha Dialogue, the government will host a conference titled "Climate Change Mountains and Future of Humanity" in April next year, Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.

According to the ministry, the conference will be held from April 3 to 4 in Kathmandu. This will be the first event under the government's flagship conference. The event will witness deliberation on the impact of climate change.

The government has expedited preparations to host the conference. As part of preparations, MoFA is holding a national consultation seminar on September 18 with stakeholders in the capital. Officials said that the forum will be utilized to put forth Nepal's voices on the international arena.

A steering committee under the leadership of Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Kumar Gyawali has already been formed to intensify preparations for holding Sagarmatha Dialogue.

Foreign Secretary Shanker Das Bairagi told Republica Online that the government will share its problems and hear problems of other countries in the first dialogue and also discuss the impacts of climate change on the mountains and role of various stakeholders on the issue.

The launch of this kind of international forum for debate is expected to help enhance Nepal's image at the international level while providing Nepal an opportunity to voice its concerns to the outer world.

The government has named the forum after Nepali name of Mount Everest—the world's highest peak. Nepal, the country of eight of the 14 world's heights peaks, has been expressing concerns over impacts of climate change on its mountains in different international forums including at the UN.

According to Bairagi, the forum will be held in the interval of every two years on the forum based on the issues and need of the country.

Prime Minister K P Oli had pushed an idea for launching Nepal's own forum for dialogue after he participated in the World Economic Forum in Switzerland in January this year.