Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah has proposed a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism led jointly by Nepal, India and China, to confront the growing threat of climate disasters in the world’s highest mountain range.

Making the proposal in his maiden address to the 81st session of the UN General Assembly on September 24, Shah said the mechanism would let the three countries share satellite data and technical expertise, monitor dangerous glacial lakes, strengthen joint early-warning systems and coordinate assistance when disasters cross borders.

“Let the Himalayas become a laboratory of international cooperation, rather than a frontier of fragmented information,” he told world leaders.

The proposal follows the August 26 catastrophe in which an ice-rock avalanche in the upper Bhote Koshi watershed triggered tsunami-like floods, killing 1,452 people and leaving thousands missing, with damage estimated at $2.69 billion.

Shah noted that Nepal contributes less than 0.1 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions yet faces melting permafrost, unstable slopes and unpredictable rivers. He called for grant-based climate finance for vulnerable nations, invoking the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.