According to Bloomberg's report on September 25th, Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah proposed establishing a climate alliance with neighboring countries India and China. After the devastating floods in the region, he called for actions to protect the fragile Himalayan ecosystem.
“Glaciers and floods will not carry visas and passports across borders,” Shaah said at a United Nations General Assembly in New York. “As the first crucial step, we propose to establish the ‘Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism’ coordinated by Nepal, India and China, turning the Himalayas into an experimental ground for international cooperation instead of a divided frontier."
Before he made this call, devastating floods occurred near the border between Nepal and China on August 26. The floods were caused by massive rock and ice collapses, resulting in at least 1,400 deaths and destroying towns, border posts, and hydropower stations.
Shah stated that the costs required for post-disaster recovery work amount to approximately 10% of Nepal’s GDP.
His proposal aims to address the critical gaps in data sharing. Previously, due to these gaps, mountain communities received almost no warning before flash floods occurred. Under this framework, the three countries will share satellite telemetry data, jointly monitor high-risk glacial lakes, and coordinate emergency warnings, in order to protect about 2 billion people who rely on this mountain range for water resources.
There is a precedent for sharing climate data across borders globally. Eight countries in the European Alps region share real-time monitoring data to address disasters in mountainous areas. Similar mechanisms have been established in the Mekong River Basin in Southeast Asia and the Danube River Basin between Central Europe and the Balkans, to provide early warnings to downstream communities about impending floods.
Asia Society Policy Institute's China Climate Center Director, Li Shuo, stated that China and India have "special interests in helping to address these challenges. This is not only because both countries are regional powers, but also because the climate and disaster risks in the Himalayan region are cross-border in nature." He said that although both countries have provided emergency relief, "such cooperation needs to be sustained and further expanded." Through practical regional arrangements, they can complement global climate mechanisms.
Shah also called for reforms to the global climate financing mechanism, stating that existing mechanisms such as the United Nations “Loss and Damage Fund” are “seriously inadequate,” and that bureaucratic procedures are too cumbersome. He urged donors to provide direct grants instead of credit lines that would increase the debt burden.
When climate-driven disasters destroy the infrastructure of a poor nation, solutions cannot simply be another large loan. The Sultan said this.
