Nepal’s Foreign Ministry sets up climate diplomacy section

Nepal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a dedicated Climate Diplomacy Section as the country seeks to connect its growing climate vulnerabilities at home with its international diplomatic agenda. Announcing the initiative at the inaugural Kathmandu Climate Week on Friday, Nepal’s foreign minister said the new section would link domestic climate realities with international negotiations and help make the country’s climate diplomacy more ‘sustained, coherent and proactive’.

The announcement comes as Nepal pushes for greater international support on climate adaptation, loss and damage, technology transfer and climate finance. The minister said climate change was no longer limited to environmental policy, arguing that it was increasingly affecting agriculture, infrastructure, water security, public health, energy, fiscal stability and foreign policy.

“International diplomacy is only as credible as our domestic execution,” the minister said, outlining four areas where Nepal needs to strengthen its response: climate-resilient infrastructure, the use of scientific data in policymaking, institutional capacity to manage climate finance and regional cooperation on transboundary climate and water risks.

The government plans to promote what it calls risk-informed development with infrastructure such as highways, bridges, transmission lines and urban settlements designed to withstand future climate conditions. The minister also called for scientific data on glaciers, glacial lakes and weather hazards to be converted into real-time, impact-based early warning systems capable of reaching vulnerable communities quickly.

Climate finance and loss and damage

Nepal is also seeking stronger international support for communities affected by climate-related disasters. The minister said Nepal contributes less than 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions but faces a disproportionate burden from climate impacts. Following the August disaster, Nepal formally approached the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, the minister said, calling for the fund to be adequately capitalised through new public grants and for funding to be accessible without lengthy procedural delays.

The minister did not provide details of the amount Nepal has sought from the fund. Nepal’s climate diplomacy has increasingly focused on the vulnerability of the Himalayas and the links between melting glaciers, downstream communities and rising sea levels. At the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month, Nepal convened a dialogue titled “Sagarmatha to the Sea” bringing together mountain, island and coastal countries around the links between changes in the Himalayas and the world’s oceans.

The minister said Nepal would take the same message into upcoming international climate negotiations including COP31. The government’s new Climate Diplomacy Section is intended to bring together these domestic and international strands. The minister said climate diplomacy should not be limited to government or environmental policymakers but should draw on scientific research, local governments, indigenous communities, businesses and young people.

The Institute of Foreign Affairs is also hosting a session on “Understanding Climate Negotiations and Nepal’s Position” as part of Kathmandu Climate Week. The minister said Nepal’s international position would be strengthened if it was backed by evidence from communities, scientific research and practical solutions at home.

“From our villages and mountain slopes to Kathmandu and from Kathmandu to the world,” the minister said, Nepal’s diplomacy should carry the experiences of communities to the international stage while bringing back partnerships, technology and climate finance.