A successful Sagarmatha Sambaad will be a huge achievement for the Oli government.

After a gap of five years, the KP Sharma Oli government has decided to dust off the plan to convene the Sagarmatha Sambaad (‘Everest Dialogue’), which was envisioned when Oli was prime minister in 2019. The first edition of the event, conceptualised as the country’s flagship forum, was planned for March 2020 but had to be cancelled due to the Covid pandemic. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Oli, amid a function attended by his Cabinet colleagues, Kathmandu-based ambassadors and representatives from various international agencies, announced the plan to convene the event on May 16-18 under the theme of ‘Climate change, mountains and future of humanity’, and make Sambaad a regular biennial programme.

Nepal, home to eight of the 14 peaks over 8,000 meters—including Mount Everest—is now known as one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. The natural disasters that devastated several places of Nepal in the past couple of years have accentuated the reality and rang alarm bells. Thus Nepal is well placed to take such an initiative. It is also timely in view of the United Nation designating 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers’ Preservation.

People abroad are attracted to Nepal not only because of its magnificent mountains, lakes and wildlife but also because of its unique socio-political dynamics. During interactions in regional and global forums, foreign participants laud Nepal as the ‘freest’ neutral venue in South Asia for international meets where they can freely speak their mind, which is not always possible in other countries in the region.

Preparation is key to the event’s success. Nepali governments are past masters at selling sentiments and emotions, with Oli doing it himself multiple times. For an event of this scale, preparations must start right now—and they must be thorough. First, the country should also be clear on why it is hosting the event; there is no point in wasting taxpayer money in having just another global jamboree that does not bring any tangible change to people’s lives. For this, deep homework and wide consultations will be vital.

In terms of topic for the first event, it is true that Nepal and its high mountains in the Himalayan region are highly vulnerable. But it’s not a crisis of one country specific. Prime Minister Oli on Tuesday rightly spoke of “the inherent connection between mountains and oceans, with many ecosystems relying on each other. Consequently, any ecological changes in the mountains can have widespread effects around the planet, including on coastal regions, small island states, and oceans.” Our prime minister can certainly talk big. But can he also put his words into action?

Even as making the big countries that emit the most carbon answerable has been challenging, the new US President has pulled his country out of the Paris agreement. So initiatives of the countries that bear the brunt of the climate crisis are becoming more pertinent. For this reason too, there could also not be a better time to discuss this life-and-death issue for millions of Nepalis. Additionally, a successful Sagarmatha Sambaad will be a huge achievement for the Oli government at a time when more and more people are starting to question the government’s rationale.