HKH Rivers Outcome Document

Chair: Hester Biemans, Wageningen University

Speakers: Arun B. Shrestha, ICIMOD | Muhammad Ashraf, IWMI–UIBN, Pakistan | Vishwa R. Sinha, IUCN | Sonia B. Murshad, BUET, Bangladesh | Saswata Sanyal, ICIMOD | Mohd Farooq Azam, ICIMOD

• Basin science networks (UIBN, YBJBN, Meghna Forum, HKH CryoHub, HKH DRR Hub) are emerging as neutral scientific platforms to build shared evidence and coordinated basin-level action.
• Cascading risks—GLOFs, floods, droughts, sediment shifts—require linked monitoring, modelling, and climate-risk assessments across the entire mountain-to-plains continuum.
• Evidence shows huge economic penalties of fragmented action; basin-scale cooperation yields far higher welfare gains in water, energy, food, and climate resilience.
• The basin networks provide practical pathways to SDG 6, SDG 11, SDG 13 through shared knowledge, inclusive science diplomacy, and collective learning.

Chair: Md Anwar Kadir, Joint Rivers Commission Bangladesh

Session coordinator: Remy Kinna, UNECE | Rapporteur: Michael Koch, UNESCAP

• Showcased how the UNECE Water Convention and its Water & Climate Task Force offer practical tools for climate-resilient basin-scale management – from guidance and basin networks to adaptation pilots and financing support.
• Highlighted Bangladesh’s accession to the Convention and the Bangladesh–Netherlands twinning as a concrete example of using this global framework to strengthen laws, institutions, and professional capacity for shared HKH rivers.
• Emphasised entry points for the HKH: engage with the Task Force and Global Network of Basins; focus on data sharing, early warning, flood and water-quality management; and embed basin cooperation into NDCs, NAPs, SDG and Sendai commitments.

Chair: Kenzo Hiroki, Coordinator High-level Experts and Leaders Panel on Water and Disasters (UN HELP)

Session Coordinator: Faisal M. Qamer, ICIMOD

Structured as an interactive working session to translate basin science from the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna into a practical indicator set aligned with SDGs 6, 11 and 13.

• Countries and partners prioritised basin-scale indicators on water availability and stress, multi-hazard risk, ecosystem condition, early warning coverage and climate-resilient services and infrastructure.
• Participants highlighted seven critical evidence gaps: cryosphere–hydrology monitoring, hazard and loss data, ecosystem/NbS evidence, infrastructure risk and performance, socio-economic and inclusion data, data harmonisation/open science, and tracking policy uptake.
• Agreed that basin networks (UIBN, YBJBN, Meghna Forum, HKH DRR Hub, HKH CryoHub, Ganges work) should converge towards shared observatories and dashboards that speak directly to SDG indicators.
• The emerging HKH water–climate indicator set will inform APFSD 2026, the HLPF and the 2026 UN Water Conference, ensuring HKH river basins are visible as a global priority for water and climate resilience.

Co-moderators: Mikiko Tanaka, UNESCAP | Mahendra P. Lama, JNU

Panellists: Rizwana Hasan, Minister of Environment, Bangladesh | Sanjeeb Baral, WECS, Nepal | Pema Thinley, OPM&C, Bhutan | Debolina Kundu, Director, NIUA, India | Anita Paudel, NPC, Nepal | Md Abdul Hossen, Member, Bangladesh | Kalyan Rudra, West Bengal Pollution Control Board, India | Arvind Kumar, India Water Foundation, India

High-level roundtable with a special address from H.E. Syeda Rizwana Hasan (Bangladesh), followed by national perspectives from India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh on water–climate policies, practice and cooperation.

• Water, climate and justice: Countries highlighted how glacier retreat, floods, droughts, salinity and pollution are reshaping development, making water security and climate resilience central to justice and livelihoods across HKH basins.
• Policy progress, implementation gaps: Participants shared advances—modern water acts, basin plans, river-restoration and urban river initiatives, DRR and water-induced disaster policies—while underlining persistent challenges in coordination, enforcement and local capacity.
• Towards integrated, basin-scale governance: The roundtable called for stronger vertical coordination (local–national), inclusive engagement of women, youth, migrants and communities, and deeper regional learning on early warning, benefit-sharing and river-as-lifeline approaches.

Chair: Veena Vidhyadharan, Oxfam in Asia

Moderator: Vishwa Ranjan Sinha, IUCN | Session Coordinator: Shubhuti Ghimire, ICIMOD

Panellists: Liang Gao, Sichuan University, China | Md. Shahadat Hossain, IWM, Bangladesh | Mahwish Afridi, Hashoo Foundation, Pakistan | Rajan Subedi, Oxfam, Nepal

• Inclusive science means co-producing knowledge with last-mile communities—recognising farmers, women, Indigenous Peoples and youth as knowledge holders.
• Citizen science can improve early warning and flood modelling (e.g. Meghna Basin) when community observations are structured and validated with universities.
• Women’s leadership and economic empowerment are critical for climate-resilient water governance and DRR in river basins.
• Universities can bridge government and communities through inclusive admissions, field engagement and policy advice.
• Clear methods, academic partnerships and good documentation are essential for citizen-generated data to influence policy and SDG 6 & 13 reporting.

Moderator: Anshuman Varma, ESCAP | Session Coordinator: Mikiko Tanaka, ESCAP

• The HKH was framed as a global “Water Tower of Asia” whose water–climate risks and solutions must be visible in APFSD 2026, the HLPF and the 2026 UN Water Conference.
• Breakout groups on climate–water risks, ecosystems/NbS, resilient infrastructure, policy innovation and basin governance highlighted common priorities: stronger monitoring and data-sharing, scaled-up NbS, climate-resilient WASH and infrastructure, and more inclusive, multi-level cooperation.
• Participants called for basin-wide data platforms, clear standards and better science–policy–community linkages, including early warning in local languages and formats usable by farmers and local governments.
• HKH partners should articulate 5–7 joint commitments mapped to the six UN Water Conference dialogues (Water for People, Prosperity, Planet, Cooperation, Multilateral Processes, Investments), showcasing concrete projects and cooperation mechanisms from the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna.

Chair: Christina Leb, World Bank | Moderator: Arun B. Shrestha, ICIMOD

Panellists: Aneel Salman, IPRI, Pakistan | Medha Bisht, South Asian University, India | Ni Guangheng, Tsinghua University, China | Mohammad Abu Sayed, JRC, Bangladesh | Purna B. Chhetri, Royal Thimphu College, Bhutan | Jaco Du Toit, UNESCO office, Nepal

• The session examined how HKH countries can move from shared science to joint responses under climate stress. It called for moving beyond narrow, territorial thinking towards “networked” relationships that link early warning systems, communities and institutions across borders, combining modern tools with indigenous and intergenerational knowledge.
• Three cooperation pathways emerged. First, economic and institutional instruments—joint investment platforms, basin risk pools and benefit-sharing—can make cooperation a rational, self-enforcing choice even when political trust is low.
• Second, operational coordination requires joint data and modelling centres, minimum-viable cross-border data sharing, and basin-wide early warning that treats rivers as single systems.
• Third, governance should recognise and fund local institutions, connect them to national and regional systems through clear mandates and SOPs, and use global water programmes, open-science standards and media guidelines to promote trusted information and counter climate misinformation.