'From Sagarmatha to the sea': Nepal presents five-point proposal on climate risk in New York

Nepal has presented a five-point proposal to the international community to address climate risks spanning from the mountains to the sea. The call was made at a high-level event titled "From Sagarmatha to the Sea," organized by Nepal at the United Nations headquarters in New York and led by Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal.

Senior representatives from Nepal, the United Nations and various countries attended the event. Minister Khanal said that since climate systems do not recognize political boundaries, mountains, rivers, oceans and coastal areas must be viewed as a single ecosystem.

According to him, apart from the polar regions, the Himalayas hold the world's largest reserve of ice, from which about 63,700 glaciers flow. He said Nepal has lost nearly one-third of its ice cover over the past three decades.

Nepal drew global attention to mountain disasters by showing a video of the devastating flood in Bhotekoshi. Minister Khanal described last month's massive collapse of rock and glacier in the Langtang area as a "Himalayan tsunami."

Likewise, at a meeting of leaders of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) on the sidelines of the UN's 81st General Assembly on Saturday, he said cooperation between mountainous and small island developing states needs to be strengthened, and that collective action is needed for climate justice. He praised the leadership of forum chair and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.

He said mountainous and island nations face similarly severe impacts from risks such as melting glaciers, glacial lake outburst floods and rising sea levels.