Antalya (Turkiye), Nov 11: An agenda item on the Himalayas proposed by Nepal, Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan has not been included in the formal list of the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) after failing to secure the backing of the developed nations.
The COP 31 commenced on Monday in Antalya, Turkiye. Agenda items refer to the list of topics that are formally taken up for discussion at the conference every year.
Speaking to PTI at COP31, Shisir Khanal, Nepal’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Tuesday that the three countries would continue to face challenges in getting the issue formally recognised without the support of major countries.
He said some nations explicitly backed the proposal raised on Monday, while others remained reluctant.
“This is part of a big negotiation. Different major blocs did not support it, and that made it difficult for the agenda to go through. From our side, we pushed as hard as we could.
There were different voices in the room. Some explicitly supported our agenda, while others were quite reluctant,” he said.
A source with direct knowledge of the discussions said developed nations did not show interest when the three countries formally pushed the proposal.
“The agenda focused on the Himalayas was clearly diluted, and it was the European Union which did not show any interest in this agenda. Even though the issue is not completely off the charts, a high-level dialogue is expected on it soon,” the source told PTI on condition of anonymity.
The source added that developing nations did not object to or block the proposal when it was raised.
Asked which countries supported the proposal, Khanal said several Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and mountain nations were positive, while developed countries were reluctant to take up a new agenda.
According to the Nepal government, a research dialogue is expected during the upcoming sessions at COP31, and the presidency has assured that a final text addressing mountain-related issues will be included in the conference’s outcome document.
“Compared to the past, we feel there is positive momentum, with the world community increasingly seeing the mountain issue as one of the core issues. That recognition is building. It may take some time to get where we really want to be, but we feel we are on a positive track,” Khanal said.
Asked why Nepal was emphasising the 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature overshoot in its proposal, Khanal said there was an urgent need to understand the consequences as global temperatures approach that threshold.
He said early signs linked the recent mountain collapse on Nepal’s side of the border to warming of around 1.5 degrees Celsius over the past few months.
On November 4, a joint report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Cryosphere Climate Initiative (ICCI) cited the devastating August 2026 glacial lake outburst floods along the Nepal-China border as a warning of what could lie ahead for other glacier-dependent regions globally.
The report warned that overshoot-driven impacts on the cryosphere in Nepal were already exceeding the limits of local adaptation and causing irreversible loss and damage.
Khanal said the Nepali delegation was seeking two primary forms of support at COP31 — research assistance to better understand the changes unfolding in mountain regions and financial support for adaptation, mitigation and post-disaster reconstruction.
“Technology transfer is a part of it. We see it as part of our early warning systems and adaptation. Where we need technology, we need satellites to monitor mountains and glaciers. So, we treat it as part of our research and adaptation needs,” he said.
In October 2026, the Fund for responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) provisionally allocated USD 21.6 million for Nepal’s recovery.
Highlighting the issue as a matter of climate justice, Rajendra Prasad Mithra, Secretary of Nepal’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Environment and co-leader of the country’s delegation, said Nepal contributes a negligible share of global emissions, yet the Himalayas, which sustain lives and livelihoods, are melting at “breakneck speed”.
“I come here from a nation still in grief. In August 2026, Mountain collapse unleashed what we have called the Himalayan tsunami. More than 6500 people lost their lives. Critical infrastructure was swept away in minutes. Rebuilding will cost about one tenth of our global economy. Between August and October alone, Nepal experienced three major climate disasters,” Mithra said.
“Yet Nepal acts with conviction, about half of our land is conserved forest, our energy runs on hydropower and over 70 per cent of new consumer vehicles are EVs,” he added.
He emphasised that climate justice must not remain an aspiration on paper, but become a reality for those on the front lines.
Host Turkiye’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Murat Kurum is serving as COP31 President alongside Australia’s Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen as President of Negotiations. The COP 31 is slated to conclude on November 20.
