The Nepalese cabinet met at the base of Everest on Friday to draw international attention to the impact of global warming on the Himalayas ahead of a UN climate summit in Copenhagen, regional media reported.
Helicopters delivered the ministers, equipped with oxygen masks and warm clothes, to the Kala Patthar base camp at an altitude of some 5,200 meters on Friday morning. During a 20-minute high-level session, broadcast live by state-owned Nepal Television, the Nepalese cabinet signed the 10-point Everest Declaration calling on the international community to take measures to protect the Himalayan nature.
"The Himalayas are important not only for the people of Nepal but for 1.3 billion people who depend on waters from the mountains for their livelihoods," Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal was quoted as saying at the session, attended by 24 ministers.
The prime minister is seeking initiatives from nations producing large amounts of carbon emissions to address the climate change challenge as soon as possible, the Himalayan Times said.
The UN Climate Change Conference will take place in Copenhagen on December 7-18. The conference is expected to see the signing of a new international document to replace the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, some elements of which expire in 2012.
NEW DELHI, December 4 (RIA Novosti)
