Sagarmatha Sambaad: Nepal takes the lead to save the Himalayas
NEPAL convened the first-ever Global Dialogue on the fate of the Hindukush-Himalaya (HKH) mountains, the Sagarmatha Sambaad or Conversations, using the Nepali name for the highest peak in the ranges, which means the Brow of the Oceans. This points to the ancient birth of the Himalayas from the depths of the ancient Sea of Tethys some 50 million years ago. The major rivers that emerge from the snows of these high mountains are like the umbilical cords that bind the mountains to the sea and relive their ancient connect.
What was remarkable was the success Nepal achieved in assembling an impressive number of countries from across the world for conversations centred around the HKH but locating them in the context of global warming, environmental degradation and widespread inequalities between and within countries. India was represented by Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav; his counterparts from China, Bhutan and Bangladesh were also present. These are among the eight countries that are part of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), which is based in Kathmandu and which collaborated in convening the Sambaad. The others are Pakistan, Afghanistan, Myanmar and host Nepal.
Under its current Director General Pema Gyatso from Bhutan, the centre has been doing pioneering work in mapping the health of this fragile mountain range and promoting regional collaboration to address the accelerating melting of its glaciers that is threatening to become a full-blown ecological crisis. Pakistan was represented by its civil society.
Against the backdrop of the recent hostilities between India and Pakistan, India’s ministerial participation was welcomed, as was the minister’s commitment to regional cooperation to address the challenges posed by the impacts of climate change on the shared mountain space. For there is no hope of slowing down the melting of glaciers and adapting to changing climate unless the nations in the region agree to collaborate despite the political issues which divide them.
The HKH mountains are spread across 3,500 km and cover an area of 4.3 million sq km. They hold the largest volume of fresh water in the form of ice and snow outside the polar regions and are, therefore, often referred to as the “third pole”. Ten of Asia’s major river systems originate from the glaciers nestling in the folds of these mountains -- the Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Yangtze, Huang He, Amu Darya and Tarim. Approximately 1.9 billion people depend for their water security and livelihoods on these river flows. What is truly worrying is that the rate of glacial melt in the 2010-19 decade was 65 per cent more than in the 2000-09 decade.
The HKH region is also a biodiversity hotspot with diverse flora and fauna; several species have become extinct, while others are in the endangered category.
There was a recurring question: Is it already too late to even mitigate, if not arrest, the downward spiral we are witnessing? Perhaps we should not test this proposition and instead seek to mobilise a collective, collaborative worldwide effort to address this existential challenge because the alternative is simply too dire to contemplate.
While the need for such mobilisation was conceded, the challenge remains the deeply polarised and conflicted polities across the world and within our region itself. Every activity is being looked at through the prism of national security, so that even the sharing of basic data on glacial mass or river flows is resisted because this may give an advantage to an adversary.
There has to be a mindset change; we must treat ecological assets such as mountains, rivers, forests and lakes as living entities, not as inanimate, insensate objects. These are not pieces of property to be quartered and divided among sovereign states in pursuit of their competitive rivalry. Every division of natural assets results in their diminished value for all claimants. Collective conservation and frugal sharing of the eco-services they provide enhances their value for all stakeholders.
Inter-state tensions and conflicts in our region are an unfortunate reality. Forums such as the Sambaad cannot be the place to try and resolve them. However, my experience as a diplomat tells me that the ecological catastrophe which awaits us round the corner would be of an order of magnitude far beyond what any inter-state conflict or even war may perpetrate. That tragic future for the current and future generations makes ongoing geopolitical rivalries in our own region and across the world at large appear utterly irrelevant. It is this irrefutable reality which must begin to inform political attitudes and actions.
In this regard, our region is special because our peoples share certain deeply ingrained civilisational attributes and affinities which could make it a leader in mobilising the collective effort referred to earlier. For centuries, our peoples have held its mountains, rivers, forests and surrounding oceans as sacred and living entities, both powerful and benign. Nature for us is a source of nurture, of life itself, not a dark force to be conquered and subjugated to serve human greed. If one could draw deep from this shared civilisational ethos, we may have some hope of reversing the risks which are upon us.
There are also a range of resources and best practices available across the countries which are part of the ICIMOD which could help in adapting to the impact of climate change and safeguarding fragile landscapes. India has satellites which can provide real-time data on the health of our glaciers and convey early warning of risks from Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOF), which have become more frequent and more damaging. There are automatic weather stations strung along our coasts that provide early warning on cyclones, typhoons and storm surges. They also help track the monsoons which are so important to our economies.
India could make available these capacities to the entire region, but this also needs a minimal degree of mutual trust. We also need to have a collective voice at the multilateral negotiations on climate change to win recognition of the HKH region as one of the world’s most vulnerable ecologies but also one of its most critical ecological assets. Nepal has done well to provide a platform for such conversations and more editions should follow.
Shyam Saran is former Foreign Secretary.
