Press Release
Hon. Mr. Kamal Thapa, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, signed on the Paris Agreement under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change during the historic High-Level Signature Ceremony convened by H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations at the United Nations Headquarters in New York today. The Ceremony was attended by 175 world leaders including the presidents of COP20, COP21 and COP22 (Peru, France and Morocco respectively).
Addressing the Opening Ceremony, the Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon urged all countries “to move quickly to join the Agreement at the national level” so that it could enter into force as early as possible. He said, “climate action is not a burden; indeed, it offers many benefits”. “The poor and most vulnerable must not suffer further from a problem they did not create”, he added.
The Signature Ceremony was followed by two parallel sessions for national statements of the State Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), during which Hon. Thapa delivered Nepal’s national statement. While mentioning that as a mountainous country in which the lives and livelihoods of millions of people are directly affected by climate change, the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister called the Paris Agreement “a beacon of hope for safe and shared destiny of humanity”. He further said that the Agreement was a living instrument meant for serious implementation in coherence with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted in 2015. “We have high hopes on our collective strength of global efforts, understanding, cooperation, partnership and support to combat the challenges and fulfill our ambition”, he concluded.
Later today, the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister also co-chaired one of the sessions for national statements, together with the Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden.
Hon. Deputy Prime Minister also attended official luncheon hosted by the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
In the afternoon today, the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister met with H.E. Ms. Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), who is also the Chair of the United Nations Development Group. During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on Nepal’s economic development in the context of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In the evening, the Hon. Deputy Prime Minister attended a dinner hosted in his honour by the Ambassador/Permanent Representative Mr. Durga Prasad Bhattarai.
Permanent Mission of Nepal to the United Nations
New York
22 April 2016