ANTALYA, TÜRKİYE: Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has emphasised the need to mobilise greater climate adaptation financing and expand access to such resources to protect mountain regions from the growing impacts of climate change.
He made the remarks while addressing a high-level programme titled ‘Strengthening the Resilience of Mountain Areas through Adaptation Finance’, organised on the sidelines of the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31), which began in Antalya, Türkiye, on Monday.
The programme was jointly organised by Nepal, Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan in collaboration with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and the Joy Environment Network.
During his address, Khanal highlighted the economic, physical and human losses caused by the recent devastating disaster in Nepal, which he described as a ‘Himalayan Tsunami’. He stressed that stronger regional and global solidarity and cooperation are essential to enhance the resilience of mountain regions against the escalating impacts of climate change.
Noting that approximately one-third of the world’s population directly depends on mountain ecosystems, he emphasised that mountain resilience should be recognised as a priority within the United Nations climate change process.
Khanal also called for increased mobilisation of predictable, adequate and easily accessible climate finance to support adaptation efforts. He urged the international community to remain committed to the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
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