Eighth meeting of the HKH High-Level Task Force

Ministerial declaration

Participation in this event is by invitation only.

About the event

As we gear up to convene the second Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) Ministerial Mountain Summit tentatively scheduled for September this year, ICIMOD under the Himalayan Resilience Enabling Action Programme (HI-REAP) is organising the eighth meeting of the HKH High-Level Task Force (HLTF) to finalise the following: HLTF Recommendation Report on the high-level regional institutional mechanism for the HKH region, draft of the Ministerial Declaration 2024, and the plan for the Summit.

The HLTF members will address comments from governments of ICIMOD’s regional member countries (RMCs) received to date and finalise the HLTF report and draft the Ministerial Declaration and agenda for the upcoming Ministerial Mountain Summit. Furthermore, the meeting will delve into the progress achieved by ICIMOD and its partners in implementing the six urgent actions of the HKH Call to Action.

His Excellency Shyam Saran, former Foreign Secretary and Ambassador of India and Special envoy on climate change to the former Prime Minister, is invited to give a special talk on the need for regional collaboration to address the rapidly increasing climate and environmental crises in the HKH region during the opening session.

Objectives

• Address comments from RMC governments and finalise the HLTF report and draft Ministerial Declaration for the upcoming HKH Ministerial Mountain Summit
• Review the progress made by ICIMOD and its partners on the six urgent actions outlined in the HKH Call to Action
• Discuss and finalise the agenda and preparations for the second HKH Ministerial Mountain Summit, scheduled for 24-25 September 2024

Background

The HKH region, spanning from Afghanistan to Myanmar across Pakistan, China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, is home to the world’s highest peaks, longest glaciers, unique cultures, diverse flora and fauna, and abundant natural resources. Serving as the source of water for Asia’s ten major rivers, the HKH provides essential resources, including water and biodiversity, to nearly two billion people living in the mountains and river basins downstream. However, the rapidly changing climate has led to water insecurity, increased pollution and disaster risks, biodiversity loss, and significant socio-economic shifts in the region implicating a quarter of humanity.

Realising the rising consequences of accelerated climate, social and environmental change, the HKH ministers from all eight HKH countries met at the first Ministerial Mountain Summit in Kathmandu on 15 October 2020 signed the HKH Ministerial Declaration and agreed to:

• hold a biennial HKH Ministerial Mountain Summitto take joint actions for strengthening regional cooperation in the HKH and to review and discuss emerging issues;
• promote a united voice for the HKHat regional, global, and UN platforms;
• hold a multi-stakeholder HKH Science-Policy Forum on a regular basisin order to enhance the uptake of scientific evidence for improving policies in the region focusing on mountain environments and livelihoods; and,
• constitute a Task Force with high-level representation from the eight HKH countries to assess the feasibility of establishing a regional institutional mechanism. The Task Force should assess similar regional collaborative platforms/institutions from different parts of the world and recommend a feasible configuration for the HKH region in a report to be submitted to the next HKH Ministerial Summit. The Task Force would also monitor the progress of the “HKH Call to Action”.

As a result, the HLTF members consisting of designated senior government officials from all eight HKH countries, following extensive research and consultations with regional and global networks, prepared the recommendation report and co-drafted the Declaration for the second Mountain Ministerial Summit. ICIMOD has shared both drafts with the RMC governments for their review and awaiting their feedback.