Nepali Youth and Mountain Community Dwellers have strongly appealed the US President Donald Trump to take back his decision and keep the United States in the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

On the occasion of World Environment Day, Nepali youth representing millions of people living in the foothills of the Himalayan peaks, including the tallest Mount Everest, in Nepal submitted an Appeal Letter to the US Embassy in Kathmandu today. The letter was handed over to Ms. Stephanie Reed, Deputy Political and Economic Chief, the US Embassy, Kathmandu.

The average temperature increase in the Himalayan nation like Nepal is two to six times more than that of the world, making it the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The Paris Agreement came as a hope for not just the Himalayan nations like Nepal but the entire world to fight against human-induced global climate change.

“Nepal’s carbon emission (a major factor contributing to Climate Change) is near zero if seen in global context. But it is Nepal, especially the mountain community dwellers, who are most affected with the impacts of global climate change. We are suffering from the punishment for a crime we didn’t commit”, said Mr. Prem Bahadur Bohara, CEO, Climate Alliance of Himalayan Communities (CAHC). “The Paris Accord was one of the measures significantly contributing to control the climate injustice. Withdrawal of US-a nation having a major stake in omission of Greenhouse Gases, will bring an adverse effect”, he added.

“The Unites States pulling out of the Paris Agreement will slow down the process of addressing the impacts of climate change through various mitigation and adaptation strategies. Nepal with limited resources, and the people of mountain region with limited capacity to adapt, cannot fight this alone. Addressing climate change seeks global cooperation, accountability and attention”, said Ms. Shilshila Acharya, CEO, Himalayan Climate Initiative (HCI).

The US Embassy in Kathmandu was very much receptive to the youth and their concern. Receiving the appeal letter, Ms. Stephanie assured the youth that their letter will be forwarded to the concerned authority.

The youth associated with HCI and CAHC have been campaigning to ban plastic shopping bags in Nepal through a campaign named ‘No Thanks! I Carry My Own Bag’ and to push the Nepal government to declare the Great Himalaya Trails as a Climate Adapation Landscape and a National Pride Project through a campaign named ‘HOPE- Himalayas Our Pride’

Scan copy of Letter  to US president