If you ask a farmer in rural Nepal why her crops failed this year, and the answer will likely be simple: a changing climate. She may not speak in heavy technical terms of changing precipitation patterns, rising temperatures, glacier retreat, or drought patterns. And yet she understands from experience what decades of climate science have confirmed – that the seasons are changing and becoming increasingly unpredictable.

‘Climate change’ has become a common discussion point in day-to-day life across South Asia. This is a clear reflection of the growing public awareness drawn from the reality and lived experiences of the communities at the forefront of climate impacts.

But today we also live in an era of science, with technical experts, scientists, and modern technologies reaffirming the importance of evidence in shaping climate discourse. Scientists have been warning about the catastrophes of rising global temperatures leading to rampant and intense floods, droughts, alarming heatwaves, and extreme weather events.

Yet despite robust scientific evidence, climate action continues to fall behind climate impacts. The challenge now is not whether climate change is real, but how we respond to it. Ultimately, decisions on budget, policies, and investment are exercised by elected representatives, ministry officials, and political institutions, even if communities are at the forefront of climate impacts and scientists at the center of climatic studies, analysis and forecasting. This fact is especially true for the Hindu Kush Himalaya where climate risks and hazards transcend borders, but political decisions remain confined to national priorities.

Often referred to as the “Third Pole” because it contains the largest reserves of ice and snow outside the Arctic and Antarctic, the HKH supports approximately 240 million mountain people across eight countries and provides water, food, and ecosystem services to nearly two billion people living downstream.

These shared ecosystems face shared challenges, making regional cooperation essential for building resilience. Recognizing this challenge, the Federal Parliament of Nepal, the Government of Nepal, and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) convened the first Hindu Kush Himalaya Parliamentarians‘ Dialogue in August 2025. It brought together legislators, scientists, and regional experts to bridge the gap between scientific evidence and political action.

Discussions focused on climate change, biodiversity loss, and air pollution and their impact on the interconnected socioecological systems of the HKH. Participants agreed that resilience depends on stronger institutions, political leadership, and regional cooperation.

The first HKH Parliamentarians’ Dialogue demonstrated that cooperation across one of the world’s most politically complex mountain regions is possible. bringing together more than 50 parliamentarians and regional experts, participants agreed on an urgent call for regional cooperation and committed to holding such meetings regularly. The next challenge is ensuring that this cooperation evolves beyond coordination toward genuinely inclusive governance that can address recurring development and environmental challenges in the HKH.

Reflecting on the 2025 Meet, the reality is stark. For many, climate change is viewed primarily through the lens of science and therefore treated as politically neutral. Dominant climate discourses continue to focus on quantitative data, emission reports, the cryosphere, and biodiversity, and most often are detached from the very fabric of mountain communities: women, youth, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC), and other socially marginalized groups in mountainous countries. What is often missed is that governance decisions affects communities differently. When those most exposed to climate risks are absent from decision-making, policies often fail to reflect local realities.

For instance, women and young girls in mountain regions often travel longer distances for water as local sources diminish due to glacier lost. Yet these experiences rarely inform policy decisions.

Therefore, policies must critically investigate unequal access to resources, power, decision-making, and institutions that vulnerable groups face daily. Ultimately, when climate policies overlook inclusion, resilience becomes unevenly distributed.

Regional cooperation in the HKH must be made more inclusive to strengthen representation and consideration of women, IPLCs, PWDs, youth, and other groups in policy reform dialogues. This must move beyond token representation towards institutional spaces that shape legislation, climate finance, and overall environmental governance.

In mountain regions where resource-heavy mitigation is often beyond reach, adaptation remains the best option for building community resilience. In these scenarios, women play vital roles as stewards of traditional knowledge, community leaders, and innovators.

To build resilience for all, successful adaptation innovations need to be scaled up. That requires enabling policies that improves access to resources and ensure government institutions work together effectively. A whole-of-government approach is essential if resilience efforts are to reach those who need them most.

Building momentum from the gains of the 2025 meet, the regional initiative continues to chart the role of parliamentarians in climate action. This time with emphasis on adaptation – which the region requires, given the HKH context, both resource-wise and from an ecosystem perspective.

Attention now turns to Bhutan as it prepares to host the second HKH Parliamentarians’ Dialogue. A net zero carbon country and a strong advocate for climate adaptation, Bhutan has established itself as a regional leader in environmental stewardship. Its National Gender Equality Policy 2020 calls for gender mainstreaming across governance systems, making it a fitting host for a dialogue focused on inclusive adaptation.

With this year’s emphasis on adaptation, Bhutan’s experience offers an opportunity to shape stronger parliamentary agendas and deepen regional cooperation grounded in both environmental sustainability and social inclusion.

Climate resilience is ultimately about building institutions that are informed by science, responsive to communities, the representative of the people whose lives dependent on the glaciers, biodiversity, ecosystems, and water resources. As the Hindu Kush Himalaya confronts a future shaped by climate uncertainty, the question is no longer whether regional cooperation is necessary. The question is whether that cooperation can be informed and inclusive enough to deliver resilience for all.

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A version of this article was originally published in The Kuensel, Bhutan