Kathmandu Declaration: Countries resolve to follow Paris climate deal

Describing climate change as the "biggest challenge" the world is facing, several countries on Sunday expressed resolve to reduce the use of fossil fuels, curb carbon emissions, use natural resources judiciously, and follow the Paris climate change agreement.

Different countries and organisations at the Asia-Pacific Summit-2018 here gave their approval to the "Kathmandu Declaration on climate change, and expressed hope that the suggestions of the declaration will assist the international summit on climate change in Poland.

Welcoming the approval of the declaration, former Kiribati President Anote Tong said climate change poses a serious threat to small islands. Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, cyclones, erosion of coastal regions, pose a grave danger to Island nations, he said.

The former president said that climate change and global warming should not be treated as problems faced by a single country.

We should minimize the use of fossil fuels, focus on renewable energy, and efficient waste disposal, he said.

Other speakers too voiced similar concerns.

The four-day Asia-Pacific Summit-2018, on the theme "Addressing Critical Challenges of Our Time: Independence, Mutual Prosperity and Universal Values", has been organised by the South Korea-based Universal Peace Federation and supported by the Government of Nepal.

The climate change discussed at the summit assumes significance as another global meet on the issue kicked off Sunday.

In Poland's southern city of Katowice, negotiators from around the world began two weeks of talks on curbing climate change Sunday, three years after sealing a landmark deal in Paris that set a goal of keeping global warming well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).