Foreign Minister Khanal holds bilateral talks with UN chief Guterres at COP31

ANTALYA, TÜRKIYE: Minister for Foreign Affairs, Shisir Khanal, held bilateral talks with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Thursday afternoon. The meeting took place on the sidelines of the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye.

According to a press release issued by Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Minister Khanal expressed deep appreciation to Guterres for conveying a message of sympathy and solidarity to Nepal in the aftermath of the recent climate-triggered Bhotekoshi floods. The minister also commended the UN chief’s steadfast leadership of the world body and his stronger commitment to advancing multilateralism, global peace, human dignity, and sustainable development.

In response, Secretary-General Guterres acknowledged Nepal’s valuable contribution to global peace and stability as a leading troop- and police-contributing country to UN peacekeeping missions.

During the talks, the two leaders exchanged substantive views on matters of regional and global significance, including Nepal’s post-flood recovery and reconstruction efforts, the indispensability of global governance reforms, multi-hazard early warning systems, scaled-up climate finance, and climate action.

Earlier on Thursday, Khanal also joined the Least Developed Countries (LDC) ministerial delegation in a separate meeting with Guterres, where he highlighted intensifying climate risks facing the Himalayas, the urgency of keeping the 1.5 degrees Celsius target within reach by minimising overshoot, scaled-up support for loss and damage, and the need to allocate a dedicated mountain work programme under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Minister Khanal, who has been leading the Nepali delegation to COP31, is scheduled to depart Antalya on Friday evening and arrive in Kathmandu via Istanbul on the morning of November 14. Following his departure, Minister of Agriculture, Forests and Environment Gita Chaudhary will lead the Nepali delegation for the remainder of the COP31 meetings and negotiations.