Nepal and Bhutan Seek a Himalayan Climate Agenda at COP31

Nepal and Bhutan have jointly asked the United Nations climate conference to put the Himalayas on its agenda as a subject of their own. The two countries proposed a dedicated agenda item titled "1.5-Degree Temperature Rise in the Himalayan Region" for COP31, which runs from November 9 to 20 in Antalya, Turkey, according to a press statement issued on Saturday by the secretariat of Nepal's Minister for Agriculture, Forests and Environment, Geeta Chaudhary. Chaudhary submitted the proposal for both countries under Rule 12 of the conference's draft rules of procedure.

The proposal asks for three things: scientific studies on temperature rise in the Himalayan region and on what happens if temperature targets are passed, an annual high-level dialogue on mountains and climate change, and the start of a process to build an action plan for Himalayan ecosystems under the UN climate framework. The statement said the changes under way in the mountains risk irreversible damage to Himalayan ecosystems and to the communities that depend on them.

The damage figures behind the proposal

The joint filing leans on this year's flood losses. Floods on Nepal's Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems on August 26, 2026, set off after an avalanche dammed a river, caused an estimated 2.7 billion US dollars in damage, and recovery and reconstruction are expected to require 4.7 billion dollars, according to a Rapid Disaster Needs Assessment prepared by the Nepali government. Bhutan was hit this week as well: a glacial lake outburst on Thursday night burst the Shintaphu lake and washed away infrastructure at the Gasa Tshachu hot springs, with no casualties reported as of Friday.

Nepal is preparing the ground at home as well. The Prime Minister's office said Prime Minister Balendra Shah wants representatives of ruling and opposition parties in the delegation so Nepal speaks with one national position at the summit. Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal set out the country's four priorities at a National Climate Summit in Kathmandu on Thursday: Himalayan protection, climate loss and damage, accessible climate finance and climate justice. He said Nepal's adaptation needs alone run to about 18 to 20 billion US dollars between 2025 and 2035 under its latest national climate plan.

What happens next

An agenda item is not a decision. Nepal and Bhutan first need the conference to accept the item, then carry a room that includes far larger economies with their own priorities. But the joint filing, made before the summit opens and signed onto by two Himalayan states, gives the mountain case a formal place in the Antalya talks rather than a side event. For two countries that contribute little to global emissions and sit in the path of glacial lakes, shifting rivers and thinning ice, that place at the table is the point of the exercise.