On April 8th, 2025, a delegation from the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences (CRAES) headed to Nepal to advance practical cooperation with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) and deepen bilateral environmental partnerships between China and Nepal.
Established in 1983 and headquartered in Nepal, ICIMOD is an intergovernmental knowledge and learning center with eight regional member countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The organization is dedicated to fostering scientific research and knowledge innovation to improve the lives and livelihoods of the people of the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, and to strengthening regional cooperation for conservation and sustainable mountain development.
Pema Gyamtsho, Director-General of ICIMOD, and Izabella Koziell, Deputy Director-General, warmly welcomed the CRAES delegation. Both leaders attached great importance to bilateral cooperation and expected to accelerate the implementation of the cooperation framework. During working sessions with three strategic departments of ICIMOD—Climate and Environmental Risks, Resilient Economies and Landscapes, and Regional Action and Global Advocacy—both sides reached a consensus on establishing a multi-faceted cooperation system. This includes:
● Technology transfer for air pollution prevention and control;
● Jointly holding international forums on clean air;
● Crafting flagship regional environmental reports together;
● Deployment and exchange of expert resources.
They also agreed to strengthen joint exploration and collaboration in applying for domestic and international projects and to deepen regional cooperation under multilateral environmental conventions. During the visit, CRAES brought an air quality monitoring equipment to ICIMOD, which will be integrated into the regional environmental monitoring network to support data collection for future air pollution control projects in South Asia.
The delegation also met with Nepal’s Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment, as well as the Director-Generals from the Departments of Environment, Forests and Soil Conservation, and National Parks and Wildlife Conservation. Dr. Deepak Kumar Kharal, Secretary, highly praised China’s achievements in air pollution control and hoped to advance the development of an air pollution control action plan for Nepal, leveraging the technological and platform advantages of CRAES and ICIMOD. Additionally, the CRAES delegation held discussions with the Kathmandu Center for Research and Education (KCRE), exploring the potential for building a scientific research collaboration mechanism.
This visit marks CRAES’s first official visit to the ICIMOD headquarters as the Vice-Chair of the China Committee on ICIMOD. It represents a significant step toward the imminent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding and deepening cooperation between both sides. Furthermore, this visit plays an important role in expanding CRAES’s partnership network in Nepal and other South Asian countries, positioning the academy to advance international cooperation in mountain sustainability and support the green development of the “Belt and Road” countries and regions.
