Hindu Kush Himalaya meet seeks joint legislative action on climate crisis

August 18, 2025 (MLN): Lawmakers from across the Hindu Kush Himalaya were urged on Monday to forge a regional climate solidarity pact as Pakistan spotlighted its sweeping domestic climate reforms and warned of mounting human and economic costs from worsening floods, droughts and melting glaciers.

A call for joint action to legislate together, innovate together and speak with one voice in global negotiations was made at the Hindu Kush Himalaya Parliamentarians’ meet in Kathmandu.

“The world must know—the mountains that unite us are not only our shared heritage, they are our shared line of defence and history will not forgive hesitation,” said Munaza Hassan, Chairperson National Assembly Climate Body, while addressing the two-day gathering.

The high-level meet has brought together around 70 parliamentarians primarily chairs, co-chairs and members of environment and climate-related committees alongside experts from across the Hindu Kush Himalaya (KKH) region to foster collaboration on urgent climate, environmental and development issues.

It provides a platform for parliamentarians to share knowledge, challenges, experiences and best practices and to discuss forward-looking policy actions.

Hassan said the mountains that feed rivers, shape the climate and sustain nearly two billion lives are “bleeding ice,” warning that climate change is an existential war being fought in real time.

She highlighted Pakistan’s vulnerability, recalling the 2022 floods that displaced 33 million people, the 2024 heat waves and glacial lake outburst floods, and the 2025 disasters that destroyed villages in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral while monsoon rains submerged farmland in Punjab and Sindh.

More than 300 people have died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after floods and landslides triggered by heavy rains, she said.

At the same time, she noted droughts are crippling agriculture in Sindh and Balochistan while smog chokes cities. “We have learned a brutal truth: climate change is no longer a challenge of tomorrow it is the disaster of today,” she said.

Pakistan, she said, has amended its Constitution to make climate a fundamental right, introduced a Carbon Levy on polluting industries in 2025 and accelerated electric mobility under the National EV Policy 2025–2030. Solar now provides more than one-quarter of national electricity, with over 17 gigawatts added in 2024, while net-metered solar capacity crossed 5.3 GW by April 2025.

She also pointed to the 10 Billion Tree initiative, expansion of protected areas, and Pakistan’s role in creating and operationalizing the global Loss and Damage Fund as steps to restore nature and build resilience.

But Hassan warned that no country can act alone. “Our rivers do not stop at borders; our glaciers do not ask for visas; our air does not recognize sovereignty.

We rise or fall together,” she said, stressing that the Parliamentarians’ Meet is more than dialogue and represents “the call to arms of our generation.”

Pakistan, she added, comes to Kathmandu “to share lessons, to learn, and to lead where leadership is required.”

“Let us prove that together, we can sustain nature, and by doing so, empower our people,” she concluded.

Speaking at a two day Hindu Kush Himalaya Parliamentarians’ Meet in Kathmandu, Munaza Hassan, Chairperson of Pakistan’s National Assembly Climate Body, said the region’s mountains home to glaciers feeding rivers that sustain nearly two billion people are “bleeding ice” as climate change accelerates.

She highlighted Pakistan’s frontline experience, citing the 2022 floods that submerged a third of the country, heatwaves and glacial lake outburst floods in 2024 and fresh climate linked disasters this year that have killed more than 300 people and displaced thousands. “Climate change is no longer a challenge of tomorrow it is the disaster of today,” she said.

Pakistan, she stressed, has pivoted to aggressive policy measures: introducing a carbon levy in 2025 to hold polluters accountable, enshrining climate as a constitutional right and accelerating the transition to clean transport through the National EV Policy 2025–2030.

Solar energy now accounts for more than a quarter of the country’s electricity, with over 17 gigawatts added in 2024 alone, placing Pakistan among the few nations to cross the “25% solar club.”

Renewables, alongside wind and hydropower, have nearly doubled in three years, while net-metered rooftop solar passed 5.3 GW by April 2025, driven largely by households and businesses.

Meanwhile, the government is financing resilience through the Loss and Damage Fund, biodiversity protection, and expanded tree restoration initiatives.

But Hassan warned that national actions cannot succeed in isolation. The Hindu Kush Himalaya spans eight countries Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan and shared rivers, glaciers and air mean the region must act collectively.

“Our rivers do not stop at borders; our glaciers do not ask for visas; our air does not recognize sovereignty. We rise or fall together,” she said, calling for joint legislation, innovation and a unified voice in global negotiations.

The Kathmandu meet gathered 70 parliamentarians and climate experts to push forward collaborative responses to climate, environmental and development challenges facing the high mountain region.

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