HKH Parliamentarians' Meet concludes with five-point call to action

KATHMANDU: The Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) Parliamentarians’ Meet 2025 concluded in Kathmandu today with a five-point call to action.

The Agriculture, Cooperatives and Natural Resources Committee of the House of Representatives organised the meeting for the first time in Nepal.

The two-day event, held under the theme ‘Sustaining Nature, Empowering People’, began on Monday and concluded this afternoon.

Parliamentarians and regional representatives urged immediate action on climate change, air pollution and biodiversity conservation through enhanced regional cooperation.

At the concluding ceremony, Bir Bahadur Balayer, coordinator and member of the organising committee, outlined the key conclusions.

Delegates agreed that rising climate risks, pollution and biodiversity loss in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region – of shared ecological, social and economic significance – pose serious challenges to communities and ecosystems.

By RSS

The meeting stressed the need to prioritise climate resilience, clean air and biodiversity conservation to safeguard the future of coming generations, and called for stronger parliamentary roles to achieve regional unity, inclusive development and sustainability.

The action plan also includes regular meetings and the potential establishment of a ‘Hindu Kush Himalaya Parliamentarians Forum’ to facilitate regional dialogue and the exchange of experiences and best practices.

The Hindu Kush Himalayan region encompasses Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar and Pakistan.

Earlier, Speaker Devraj Ghimire said that joint efforts are essential, as challenges such as climate change, air pollution and biodiversity loss cannot be addressed by any single country alone.

He noted that the region is home to 240 million people, with about two billion more depending on its natural resources, and is one of the Earth’s most sensitive areas. ‘Temperatures here are rising at almost twice the global average, causing glacier melt, devastating floods, water crises and increasing droughts,’ he said.

By RSS