{"id":56924,"date":"2025-05-16T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-16T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/on-thin-ice-un-chief-sounds-alarm-over-rapid-himalayan-glacier-melt\/"},"modified":"2025-05-16T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-16T12:00:00","slug":"on-thin-ice-un-chief-sounds-alarm-over-rapid-himalayan-glacier-melt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=56924","title":{"rendered":"\u2018On thin ice\u2019: UN chief sounds alarm over rapid Himalayan glacier melt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Ant\u00f3nio Guterres issued the warning in a video message to the inaugural <em>Sagarmatha Sambaad<\/em>, or \u201cEverest Dialogue,\u201d convened by the Government of Nepal in Kathmandu.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Record temperatures have meant record glacier melt<\/strong>,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNepal today is on thin ice \u2013 <strong>losing close to one-third of its ice in just over thirty years<\/strong>. And your glaciers have melted 65 per cent faster in the last decade than in the one before.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Named after Mount Everest (<em>Sagarmatha<\/em> in Nepali), the international platform convened ministers, parliamentarians, climate experts, and civil society to focus on climate change, mountain ecosystems, and sustainability.<\/p>\n<figure role=\"group\" class=\"caption caption-drupal-media align-right\">\n<div class=\"context-un_news_large_credit type-remote_video media media--type-remote-video media--view-mode-un-news-large-credit\">\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/en\/media\/oembed?url=https%3A\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch%3Fv%3DO3kFLFebobo&amp;max_width=0&amp;max_height=0&amp;hash=4-1vmaOETRHT6I1mtxWX-5ZB6FZfHXVqaXa-1KhClAI\" width=\"200\" height=\"113\" class=\"media-oembed-content\" loading=\"eager\" title=\"Secretary-General's video message to the &quot;Sagarmatha Sambaad&quot; - Everest Dialogue\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<\/div><figcaption>Secretary-General&#8217;s video message.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Two billion futures at stake<\/h2>\n<p>Glaciers in the region have served for centuries as vital freshwater reservoirs. Their accelerated melt now threatens not only local communities but vast populations downstream who rely on Himalayan-fed rivers.<\/p>\n<p>Reduced water flow in river systems such as the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Indus threatens not only water but also food production for nearly two billion people across South Asia.<\/p>\n<p>Combined with saltwater intrusion, this could trigger collapsing deltas and mass displacement, the UN chief warned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe would see low-lying countries and communities erased forever,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<h2>Children raise their voices<\/h2>\n<p>Ahead of the summit, Nepal\u2019s children and youth stepped into the spotlight with their own call to action.<\/p>\n<p>In a declaration submitted to the dialogue, over 100 children and young people demanded urgent and inclusive climate action that recognizes them as rights-holders and climate actors \u2013 not just passive victims.<\/p>\n<p>Among their key demands: ensuring child participation in climate decisions, supporting youth-led programmes, and promoting their innovations and climate action.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>The climate crisis is a child rights crisis \u2013 disproportionately impacting their health, nutrition, education and well-being<\/strong>,\u201d said Alice Akunga, head of the UN Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) in Nepal, which supported the deliberations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cListening to the voices of the \u2018future of humanity\u2019 is critical to designing and implementing meaningful and lasting solutions to address the adverse effects of climate change on children and youth.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"context-un_news_full_width_credit_caption type-entermedia_image media media--type-entermedia-image media--view-mode-un-news-full-width-credit-caption\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-thumbnail field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item\">\n<\/div>\n<p>Glaciers in the high Himalayas, like those in Nepal\u2019s Langtang region (pictured), feed major South Asian river systems sustaining tens of millions of lives and livelihoods downstream<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Stop the madness<\/h2>\n<p>In his message, Mr. Guterres reiterated his call on the world to \u201cstop the madness\u201d of fossil fuel-driven global warming, a warning he made during his previous visit to the Everest region in 2023.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, he stood amid glacial basins in the Himalayas, warning that the \u201crooftops of the world\u201d were rapidly vanishing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd that is why you are gathered together focused on <em>Sambaad<\/em> \u2013 dialogue,\u201d the UN chief said on Friday, applauding Nepal\u2019s climate leadership, including reforestation programmes, early warning systems and its goal to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045.<\/p>\n<h2>Act now<\/h2>\n<p>The world must act without delay to limit global temperature rise to 1.5\u00b0C, he continued \u2013 the target set by the Paris Agreement on climate change \u2013 with the biggest emitters leading the way.<\/p>\n<p>This includes investing in renewable energy, fulfilling the $1.3 trillion climate finance goal agreed at COP29, doubling adaptation finance to at least $40 billion this year as pledged by developed countries, and providing robust, sustained support to the Loss and Damage Fund.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<strong>Achieving these goals demands bold collaboration,<\/strong>\u201d Mr. Guterres concluded. \u201cThe United Nations is your ally in this essential task.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/news.un.org\/feed\/view\/en\/story\/2025\/05\/1163376\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ant\u00f3nio Guterres issued the warning in a video message to the inaugural Sagarmatha Sambaad, or \u201cEverest&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v21.0 (Yoast SEO v27.4) - 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