Bhishmaraj Ojha
Preparations have begun in earnest for the ‘Sagarmatha Dialogue’ to be held here from 15th to 17st of May under the theme ‘Climate Change, Mountains and the Future of Human Life’ with the aim of presenting the problems faced by mountainous and coastal countries regarding climate change to the world community.
The first meeting of the management committee formed to prepare for the dialogue on Sunday decided to invite heads of state and government of countries located in mountainous and coastal areas, experts working in the field of climate research, representatives of the private sector at the national and international levels, subject matter experts, and personalities who can influence society.
Maheshwor Dhakal, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Forests, who is the contact person for the dialogue, told RSS that a committee coordinated by Foreign Minister Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba has prepared the infrastructure arrangements and a draft program for the dialogue.
The committee has decided to form an expert group comprising 16 experts from various fields and a publicity and coordination committee under the coordination of the Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The meeting has decided to urge partner organizations to demonstrate good practices in mitigating the effects of climate change.
According to Joint Secretary Dhakal, dialogue will also be held at the provincial level, preparatory dialogue will be held on issues related to children and youth, the necessary staff for the dialogue will be deployed by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Forests and the Office of the Council of Ministers, and the dialogue secretariat will be made active.
The committee, coordinated by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, is co-coordinator of the committee, with Minister for Forest and Environment Ain Bahadur Shahi Thakuri as its co-coordinator. The committee includes the Chief Secretary to the Government, the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, the Secretaries of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Home, National Planning Commission, Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation, the Executive Director of the Alternative Energy Promotion Center, and the Member Secretary of the National Nature Conservation Fund. The Member Secretary of the committee is the Forest Secretary.
Earlier, a preparatory meeting was held in the presence of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on January 21. The meeting discussed issues such as inviting heads of state or government of neighboring countries India, China and South Asian countries as special guests for the dialogue program. On February 9, Prime Minister Oli had announced that the dialogue program would be held in Kathmandu on the occasion of the International Year of Glaciers, 2025.
Earlier, preparations for the Sagarmatha Dialogue, which was initiated by the then Prime Minister Oli-led government in 2020 AD, were postponed at the last minute due to COVID-19.
Dialogue for Climate Justice
Deepak Kumar Kharal, Secretary, Ministry of Forest and Environment, said that the government is planning to hold a dialogue program to gain global leadership on climate change and advocate for climate justice. The government has decided to organize this dialogue every two years.
He said that the dialogue will also focus on the compensation Nepal should receive and the payment for environmental services provided by Nepal, drawing the attention of the international community to the situation of high risk even with low carbon emissions.
Although the world community has agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of this century, the average temperature in the Himalayan region is expected to exceed 1.8 degrees Celsius by 2050. According to various studies, two-thirds of the glaciers in the region will melt due to high temperature increases.
Secretary Kharal says that dialogue will contribute to the development and expansion of climate science and technology, voice the ‘agenda’ of mountainous countries, and help work with mountainous countries.
Joint Secretary Dadhiram Bhandari, who is in charge of the homework for the dialogue from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Government of Nepal is going to implement this program with high priority. Stating that the main objective of the dialogue is to highlight the impact of climate change on the mountainous regions, he expressed the hope that it will bring about uniformity in the understanding of the citizens of the mountainous regions and the international community.
