What if the hundreds of thousands of foreign tourists visiting Nepal were sensitised and made aware of the daunting consequences the country faces due to climate warming?
Imagine a partnership with major airlines flying to Nepal where, before landing, passengers are invited to watch a video showcasing the country’s natural beauty. This is not an entirely new idea—promotional videos are already common on many flights.
But let us add a twist to this commercial practice.
The same video could deliver a clear message about the threats posed by climate change to Nepal’s uniquely beautiful yet exceptionally fragile and vulnerable ecosystems.
Incoming tourists would learn how climate warming poses an existential threat—effectively a death sentence—to local communities living in these fragile mountain ecosystems. Short interviews, translated into English and featuring indigenous communities and other citizens affected by climate change, would offer a powerful message to those arriving to enjoy Nepal’s nature.
This campaign should be long term and regularly updated, and the airlines concerned could also be encouraged to highlight this issue in their inflight magazines. Such a campaign could be one way of raising awareness about climate justice in mountain regions.
COP30 can largely be assessed as a failure. Governments could not reach consensus on unequivocally reaffirming the imperative of phasing out fossil fuels. There has been some progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation, but even the financing component proved disappointing.
Nepal beyond mountains and hills
Perhaps the only silver linings are the approval of a new Just Transition Mechanism and a new Gender Work Plan—though these remain toothless arrangements.
Nepal and other mountain nations did manage, albeit modestly, to include the Mountain Agenda in the official COP framework. At best, this can be considered a partial victory for Nepal, Peru, Kyrgyzstan and others who, with support from ICIMOD, pushed this agenda forward.
No major international news outlet covering COP30 in Belém reported on the issue. Even in official documents it is difficult to find. The Mountain Agenda appears only in the “Presidency consultations on mountains and climate change,” published on 20 November.
As a result, this key agenda for Nepal will be discussed next year in Bonn at SB64, the important mid-year climate meeting that precedes the COP. A summary report will then be submitted to the next COP in Türkiye.
While Nepal and other mountain nations can take some satisfaction from this development, there is little to celebrate. At the time of writing, no international newspaper has reported on the Mountain Agenda. This suggests that despite coordinated efforts, the issue remains far from being globally recognised as a salient climate injustice.
From this realisation emerges the idea of involving international airlines in an awareness campaign. But will such efforts be enough? Certainly not.
While Nepal could leverage the goodwill of international tourists—often the nation’s best ambassadors—a much bigger strategy is required.
Nepal’s entire diplomatic network should be recalibrated to prioritise climate diplomacy, especially in countries employing large numbers of Nepali migrant workers. This sensitive undertaking could begin with countries such as Saudi Arabia, whose government strongly opposed including a fossil fuel phase-out in the final Belém Political Package.
As Gulf countries push back on climate justice because their economies depend on oil and gas, Nepal could—humbly yet firmly—explain how the future of millions of its citizens is at risk due to the consequences of a warming planet.
For example, the Government of Nepal, working with the diaspora, could design exhibitions at embassies and in major tourist markets showcasing the effects of climate change on Himalayan communities and ecosystems. Imagine photographs and videos illustrating climate impacts—ranging from melting mountains to floods turbocharged by warming—displayed in Riyadh, Doha, Abu Dhabi and other cities whose wealth derives from fossil fuels.
While such exhibitions would be a positive step, international support alone will not be enough. Even if fossil fuel–dependent nations eventually agree to phase them out—a goal that is unlikely in the next few years—Nepal will still require more than awareness campaigns and public diplomacy.
The country needs one thing above all: good governance. Nepal needs a government capable not only of drafting ambitious NDCs but implementing them to the fullest extent possible, without waiting indefinitely for external support.
Nepal needs a comprehensive approach that places climate and nature at the heart of national and local governance—even through small, people-led initiatives.
Heavy documents such as NDCs and the National Adaptation Plan should not be consumed only by policymakers. They should be informed by public input and then communicated through simple, effective messages that reach every citizen, including those unfamiliar with climate justice.
A climate- and nature-centred government could establish mechanisms such as a National Climate Council comprising bipartisan experts to advise policymakers. But citizen engagement is essential.
Climate justice is too important an issue for people to be excluded. They must be at the centre of all efforts. The next government should define a series of National Missions in its strategic plan, with the top priority being: “Fighting Climate Warming and Biodiversity Loss with Full Public Engagement.”
Good and smart public diplomacy—including involving tourists—would help.
But to win the daunting battles of climate change and biodiversity loss, Nepal needs a much higher level of ambition.
What Nepal ultimately needs is good, honest politics that meaningfully engage citizens.
