PM Shah links rising Himalayan disaster risk to climate change

Prime Minister Balendra Shah has warned that climate change is increasing risks across the Himalayan region, as he called for greater international attention to disasters affecting the country’s mountains.

Addressing the House of Representatives on Wednesday, Shah said experts had described the August 26 flood in the Bhotekoshi River in Rasuwa district as one of the major disasters in the Himalayan region, linked to an avalanche involving snow and ice.

Shah urged authorities and the public to remain alert to the growing risks and said Nepal must present the impact of climate change-related disasters more strongly to the international community.

“The time has come to present strongly before the international community the disasters we are facing because of climate change,” Shah told parliament.

The prime minister said the Bhotekoshi disaster should serve as a warning for the Himalayan region, where changing climatic conditions are creating growing risks for communities and infrastructure.

Shah said the government had no time to pause its response despite the scale of the disaster, and told lawmakers he would outline the measures taken since the incident, the government’s ongoing response and its plans for the next phase.

Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 mountains above 8,000 metres, is highly exposed to climate-related hazards, including floods, landslides and risks associated with melting snow and glaciers.

The prime minister’s remarks come as scientists and governments across the Himalayan region face growing pressure to strengthen disaster preparedness and address the consequences of a warming climate.