ISTANBUL

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on the world to “stop the madness” of climate change as he visited Himalayan regions in Nepal.

In a brief statement on X, Guterres said glaciers in the Himalayas are melting at a "record level."

“We must make sure that we limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. Glaciers are retreating, we cannot retreat. We must move forward with climate action,” he said.

“Today (Monday) from the base of Mt. Everest, I saw for myself the terrible impact of the climate crisis on the Himalayas,” he said.

Guterres is in the landlocked South Asian nation on a four-day visit since Sunday at the invitation of Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

He met with Dahal, and other senior government officials, including foreign and defense ministers.

In a joint press conference with the Nepalese prime minister, Guterres urged developed countries to increase their support to Nepal and other countries suffering from the impacts of climate change.

“Nepal is also caught in a blizzard of global crises not of its making: the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and the enormous threat posed by climate chaos,” the UN secretary-general said.

This is the first visit of the UN chief to Nepal after he assumed office on Jan. 1, 2017.