Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah has proposed establishing a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism led by his country as well as India and China, in the wake of the recent devastating flash floods in the area.
Shah, in his maiden address to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on Thursday (September 24, 2026), also told world leaders that a warming climate is destabilising the fragile Himalayan ecology. Mr.
“That is why, as an urgent first step, we propose that we establish a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism, led by Nepal, India and China,” Mr.m Shah said.
Through this mechanism, let us share satellite data and expertise. Mr. Glaciers and floods do not travel with a visa stamped on passports. “And this is not Nepal’s private misfortune. Ask Bangladesh. Ask Bhutan. Ask India. Ask the Maldives. Ask Pakistan. Ask Sri Lanka. Ask any other country in our region and you will hear the same account: hit by the climate we did not warm, and hit again by the wars we did not start.
Rapid assessments peg physical recovery needs at about 10 percent of GDP.
He said the mechanism should be used to share satellite data and expertise. Shah said the devastating Nepal floods gave the world a fundamental message that “Climate change does not recognise borders. Nepal Prime Minister Shah told the UN that Nepal now faces a massive task of recovery and reconstruction. This tells us there is a lot more broken than meets the eye in the present order of global cooperation,” he said.
