Nepal’s first Kathmandu Climate Week is set to begin on Friday, October 2, bringing together a wide array of stakeholders to connect local climate action with global climate diplomacy. Foreign Affairs Minister Shishir Khanal will inaugurate the three-day main event, which runs until Sunday, October 4, with a public film screening concluding the week on Monday, October 5.
Organized under the theme “Climate Justice for Building Climate Resilience, from Local Action to Global Climate Diplomacy,” the week aims to integrate experiences and solutions from communities across Nepal with national policy and international climate diplomacy. The initiative is a collaborative effort by a coalition of organizations, including the Institute of Himalayan Risk Reduction (IHRR) and the National Indigenous Disabled Women Association Nepal (NIDWAN), in cooperation with the Disaster Preparedness Network-Nepal (DPNet) and with support from Kathmandu Metropolitan City.
Connecting local efforts to global stage
The opening day, Friday, October 2, will feature a national opening and a remembrance ceremony for those who have lost their lives in recent climate disasters. High-level discussions will follow, focusing on Nepal’s climate priorities from the UN General Assembly to COP31, the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, scheduled for November 9-20, 2026, in Antalya, Turkey. Other sessions on the first day include a dialogue with political party leaders on climate justice priorities, an intergenerational roundtable, discussions with sustainability entrepreneurs, and a panel on climate litigation in Nepal.
Saturday, October 3, will host seventeen parallel sessions across five thematic areas: climate justice, loss and damage, sustainability and climate action, technology in climate change, and the private sector’s role in climate justice. Topics will range from youth involvement in climate justice and the concerns of Indigenous and marginalized communities to climate finance, organic agriculture, the circular economy, data and artificial intelligence, climate-resilient infrastructure, and private-sector climate finance.
The final day of main events, Sunday, October 4, will emphasize frontline voices. It will include a youth-led session on the Rasuwa-Bhotekoshi flood, a parliamentary dialogue on climate justice, and a closing plenary featuring community representatives from affected areas. Hands-on training in hydroponic farming will also be offered.
Paving the way for COP31 and future dialogues
The Kathmandu Climate Week is inspired by global initiatives such as the London Climate Action Week and seeks to establish Kathmandu as a key platform for climate dialogue, collaboration, and action planning in South Asia, particularly concerning mountain issues. Organizers intend for this program to lay the groundwork for an annual climate dialogue platform.
Nepal, highly vulnerable to climate change impacts due to its fragile geographical structure, is actively preparing its ‘Country Position Paper’ for COP31. This document will outline Nepal’s priorities, perspectives, and past roles concerning climate change. Members of the National Assembly, the upper house of parliament, have consistently urged for strong initiatives on climate justice and climate finance at COP31.
The week will conclude with an action plan declaration, providing a framework for continuous collaboration and implementation post-event. The public film screening on Monday, October 5, will showcase stories from the event, marking the official end of the inaugural Kathmandu Climate Week.
While the event’s schedule is detailed, specific names of political leaders participating in dialogues, community representatives for the closing session, and exact venues within Kathmandu for various sessions remain undisclosed. Details regarding the budget or specific data on victims of recent climate disasters are also not yet available.
