Kathmandu, August 18, 2025
More than 100 parliamentarians from across the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region have gathered in Kathmandu for the Hindu Kush Himalaya Parliamentarians’ Meet 2025, the largest-ever gathering of lawmakers from the region to address climate change, biodiversity loss, air pollution, and inclusive development.
The meeting, jointly hosted by the Government of Nepal and supported by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), aims to build consensus and advance actionable solutions for shared environmental and developmental challenges across the transboundary mountain region.
Delivering a powerful address at the opening session, Honourable Munaza Hassan, Head of Pakistan’s Delegation, underscored the urgency of collective action. “We gather here in Kathmandu in the shadow of the great Hindu Kush Himalaya mountains that feed our rivers, shape our climate, and sustain nearly 2 billion lives. And yet these mountains are bleeding ice. This is not the slow march of nature-it is a war being fought in real time against forces unleashed by human hands,” she said.
Recalling the devastating climate impacts Pakistan has faced in recent years-including the 2022 floods that displaced 33 million people, record-breaking heatwaves, and glacial lake outburst floods-Hassan stressed that the climate crisis is no longer a challenge of tomorrow but a disaster unfolding today. She emphasized that Pakistan, despite its vulnerabilities, has become “a laboratory of solutions,” but warned that no country can confront the crisis alone. “Our rivers do not stop at borders. Our glaciers do not ask for visas. We rise or fall together,” she declared, urging regional lawmakers to forge a climate solidarity pact.
Echoing the call for unity, Honourable Supradip Chakma, Head of Delegation from Bangladesh, reminded participants of the moral and ecological responsibility at stake. “It is the prime time to know our situation-what is going on here in terms of climate change and biodiversity. We are criminals to the environment. And we are criminalising each and every one, that includes our future generation,” he said. Chakma strongly endorsed the proposal to establish a sub-regional cooperation platform, calling on countries to strengthen their collective voice in order to rescue “our area, the global environment, and biodiversity.”
The Kathmandu meet is expected to conclude with a commitment from participating parliamentarians to strengthen cross-border cooperation in climate governance, policy-making, and sustainable development for the HKH region, which is home to the largest volume of ice outside the Arctic and Antarctic.
