SYANGBOCHE, Nepal — Nepal vows to fight threats posed by climate change after concluding historic high-altitude meet
Friday, 04 December 2009 11:48
The historic cabinet meeting at Kalapatthar plateau near Everest Base Camp (5,242 meters) in the foothills of Mt Everest has concluded by issuing a 10-point "Everest declaration" which calls for concerted actions to minimize adverse effects of climate change in the Himalayan region.
Informing about the decision of the cabinet meeting at a press meet organized in Syangboche (3,780 m) after returning from Kalapatthar, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said that through the Everest declaration Nepal wants to express its commitment to fight the threats posed by global climate change and show areas of cooperation to follow for this noble purpose.
The meeting held for around 20 minutes also declared Banke National Park as new national park and Api-Nampa and Gauri-Shankar as conservation areas.
In the 10-point declaration, Nepal has expressed commitment to work together with the international community to mitigate the threats of climate change to the entire human civilization including the world's fragile bio-diversity, heritages and for sustainable socio-economic and cultural development of mankind.
He said the Himalayan region which boasts of Mt Everest, the world's tallest peak, including the majestic 2,700 kilometer-long mountain range, has a special significance for the socio-economic and cultural development of 1.3 billion people living in the region including maintaining the global environmental balance.
"But the world-wide climate change patterns of recent years has started to negatively affect the Himalayas and the people living in this region, their socio-economic development, biological diversity and other sectors, " he said, adding that as a result of which the risks of floods, landslides, glacier outbursts, drought, deforestation and other natural calamities have greatly increased.
He said the adverse effects of climate change is not only being seen in the areas near to Himalayan region, but in the whole of South Asia including the ecology of the whole world.
"Due to global climate change and its effects, the entire human civilization is faced with additional challenges for their survival," PM Nepal claimed.
PM Nepal said that Government of Nepal has from the past many decades been expressing bilateral and multilateral commitments for sustainable development and environmental protection knowing that conserving and protecting planet Earth, our shared home, is not only in the interest of us but our future generations too.
Twenty-four cabinet ministers, including PM Nepal, had flown to Kalapatthar at 9:20 am on Friday to hold the historic cabinet meeting set in the backdrop of the majestic Himalayas, including Mt. Everest, the world's highest mountain.
A rescue team led by Usha Gurung along with six doctors and a team of mountaineers accompanied the ministerial team for this historic event.
Speaking to media-persons before the ministerial team was air-lifted to Kalapathhar, Minister for Forest and Soil Conservation Dipak Bohora had said that the government is holding the cabinet meeting to draw the attention of the world to the threats of climate change in the Himalayas and the people living in the region.
State-owned Nepal Television broadcast the special event live from Syangboche.
The ministerial team had reached Lukla Airport in Solukhumbu district on Thursday to take part in the historic meeting.
