It was outlined in the first Sagarmatha Sambaad organised in Kathmandu (Nepal) under the theme ‘Climate Change, Mountains, and the Future of Humanity’.

• Sambaad (dialogue) is named after the world’s tallest mountain Sagarmatha (Mt. Everst).
• India stressed on the need for collaborative efforts to safeguard the Himalayas and other mountain ecosystems at the sambaad.

Need to protect the Himalayas

crucial for the livelihood of about 1.3 billion people, provides forest cover, feeds perennial rivers, conserves biodiversity, etc.

Five-point call for global action to address the shared ecological challenges are:

• Enhanced Scientific Cooperation: Research collaboration,  monitoring cryospheric changes, hydrological cycles, and biodiversity.
• Building Climate Resilience: Investing in early warning systems for disasters like Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), climate-resilient infrastructure in mountain areas.
• Empowerering Mountain Communities: Ensuring welfare, needs and aspirations of local communities are at heart of policy-making and their benefit from green livelihoods and sustainable tourism..
• Providing Green Finance: Making available climate finance as per UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement for mountain Nations to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies effectively.
• Recognizing Mountain Perspectives: Ensuring unique vulnerabilities and contributions of mountain ecosystems are suitably featured in global climate negotiations and sustainable development agendas.