Solukhumbu- Standing on the base of the world's tallest peak, Sagarmatha (Mt Everest), Qatari princess Asma Al Thani expressed her serious concern over climate change impact in the Himalayan region. 

'The climate change degrade the charm of mountain, slowly turning into lifeless' Princess Al Thani after witnessing the glacial lake outburst devastated Shrepa village Thame in the Everest region. 

Princess Al Thani who  ascended  Mt Everest in 2019, arrived there for  Summiteer’s Summit. 

 Sathsatha organized the summit coinciding the International Earth Day on April 22.

'Glacier melting is a not only threat to Nepal, it is a  global issue, ' she  stressed. 

'The Everest's beauty and vitality  amused me when I was here for climbing Everest in 2019,' she reminisced.  'The climate change now led the snow-caped mountain into  black rock. There is no life in these mountains anymore,' she lamented. 

The  recent unprecedented  weather pattern hit the lifestyle in mountain, which is serious but overlooked, she pointed out. 

'A  glacial lake outburst flood occurred  in 2023 wreaked havoc here  displacing dozens of families, and severely damaged infrastructure,' Princess Al Thani said, adding  it is man-made emergency. 

'And it’s not something Nepal can or should bear alone.'

Settlements such as Thame are facing the biggest impact of the changes in the Himalayan environment.

The princess stressed  to install early warning systems to prevent disasters such as floods, landslides, glacial lake eruptions and avalanches.

"The mountainous regions are sensitive. If there is such a system here, life can be saved by disseminating information in time. Technology needs to be used,” the Qatari Princess suggested.

Everest  shared asset of all humans, not only of Nepal, she said. 

She also suggested climbers to protect  Everest, instead  of glorifying to climb it. 

'Climbers like us don't just think it a matter of pride  the Sagarmatha. We also think it is a duty to it. Existence of mountains should be kept in the first priority in every development plan. Otherwise, Sagarmatha will be limited to photo only in coming days', she warned.

Supporting the Princess' statement, other participants – environmentalist, climbers and local representatives pointed out the need of collaboration of the world for the protection of mountains.

During the event, emphasis was laid on collaboration among the government, local bodies, NGOs and foreign mountaineering community.

Everest  are experiencing a disproportionately temperature rising compared to last decade prompting the glacier melt, the report presented in the summit stated. 

'We will lose future of earth if there will be no snow in mountains. It is a shared responsibility of us to save Sagarmatha,'  Al Thani said. 

On the occasion, a message sent by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on the occasion of the summit was unveiled.

He expressed the belief that the conference would support the informal preparation of Sagarmatha Sambaad. Prime Minister Oli mentioned that it was necessary to spread awareness about environmental risk.

The Summit organised by an organization, Sathsathai, in coordination with all three-tier government is taken as the pre-event of Sagarmatha Sambaad to be organized by the government from May 16-18.-RSS