THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
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PRESS ENCOUNTER AT POKHARA AIRPORT, NEPAL
31 October 2023
I want to express my deep gratitude for the wonderful hospitality I enjoyed in Pokhara. This is one of the wonders of the world, but is a wonder that is under threat because of climate change. And the reason for my visit was exactly to send a clear message to the world: It’s essential to stop this war against nature.
It is time to stop the looting and generating climate change because we must preserve these wonderful mountains and these wonderful glaciers. And it’s essential to support Nepal and to support other countries that do not contribute to climate change but suffer the consequences.
So many parts, so many landslides, so many communities that are deeply impacted negatively.
And so my appeal to the international community is to show effective solidarity that there is much more funding for adaptation, to build resilience, to protect the communities, and that the loss and damage fund is finally put into work to the benefit of those populations like the ones I visited that are today suffering a lot because of climate change.