Address by Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Shisir Khanal at the Plenary of the Pre-COP Leaders’ Event in Fiji

Address by Hon. Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr Shisir Khanal at the Plenary of the Pre-COP Leaders’ Event in Fiji
 

Co-chairs,

Distinguished Leaders,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Bula Vinaka and Namaste.

I would like to express my gratitude to the Prime Ministers of Australia, Fiji and Tuvalu for the invitation to attend this very important discussion.

It is a profound privilege to join you here in the Pacific, where the realities of climate change is neither an abstract projection nor a distant debate—it is an existential, daily reality.

Nepal is a land of high Himalayas. Tuvalu and Fiji are nations of the great ocean.

Geographically, we stand on opposite ends of the earth. Yet ecologically, we share the exact same frontline.

From Sagarmatha (the highest peak on the earth) to the Sea, one warming planet is transforming our lives, our landscapes, and our future.

The mountains and the oceans belong to a single, indivisible planetary continuum. What begins in our high mountains inevitably cascades into your rising seas.

In the same way, the ocean gives pacific nations life, culture and identity, the Himalayas shape culture, heritage and civilization of Nepal.

Just weeks ago, Nepal witnessed the terrifying power of what can only be called a Himalayan Tsunami: an abrupt, high-altitude glacial and rock collapse that unleashed an immense, sediment-choked deluge down the Bhote Koshi river valley. In minutes, roaring floodwaters swept away over 1400 lives, about 6000 still are still missing, erased vital highways, clean hydropower plants, and entire communities.

Here in the Pacific, you confront that same crisis in tides that rise a little higher each year. Cyclones that become fiercer by the season. 

Our vulnerabilities are not identical. But our stakes are shared, because melting mountain ice adds to the rising sea. Mountains and oceans are not opposites. They are one water, one story, one shared future.

Our nations contribute negligible to global emissions. Forty six percent of 46%Nepal’s land is covered by forest and 70% of new consumer vehicle is electronic, all our electricity comes from hydro. Yet our people pay with their lives and development gains for a crisis they had no hand in creating.

This is the very definition of climate injustice.

As we prepare for COP31, Nepal calls for:
 

• Uncompromising fidelity to the 1.5°C threshold, because for high mountains and low-lying atolls, every fraction of a degree is a matter of pure survival;

• Predictable, grant-based adaptation finance that delivers direct liquidity without imposing debt;
   
• A fully capitalized, operational Loss and Damage Fund that removes bureaucratic hurdles to reach vulnerable communities immediately;
   
• A formal "Sagarmatha to the Sea" partnership, linking mountain and ocean communities through cooperation, knowledge exchange, and a stronger collective voice.

In Fiji, you live by Solesolevaki In Nepal, our ancient tradition teaches Shramadāna—the selfless offering of collective effort.

Nepal will always highlight rising sea. I hope pacific will also talk about the ice that melts in the Himalayas.
Let us unite this shared civilizational wisdom. From Sagarmatha to the Blue Pacific, Let us turn our shared vulnerability into shared action; our shared challenges into shared solutions; and our solidarity into a stronger voice for climate justice.

Let us go to Antalya with one voice, sending the world the same message: The climate crisis is already here. Our response must be equally urgent, equally united, and equally ambitious.

Vinaka Vakalevu. Thank you. Namaste.