<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/run-sunmaya-run">Nepal’s ultra-marathoner Sunmaya Budha</a> won her fifth gold medal of 2025 at the Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100km championship in South Africa on 22 November and claimed the World Trail Majors title, marking one of the biggest achievements ever recorded by a Nepali trail runner.&nbsp;
Budha completed the 99km trail with an elevation gain of 4,676m in 12 hours 25 minutes and 55 seconds, and was nearly an hour ahead of her second-placed competitor.&nbsp;
The 27-year-old t<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-trail-running-champions">rail endurance runner</a> has ran six races in 2025, and has been racking up outstanding performances across the world.&nbsp;
In September, Budha earned a silver medal at the 3rd World Mountain and Trail Running Championships, becoming the first Asian athlete to have ever finished that high in the Long Trail competition at the World Championships.&nbsp;
Additionally, Budha claimed gold medals at the Anta Hong Kong 100 in January, the Chengdu Trail 60 in March, the Ultra-Trail Mount Yun 30K in April and Annapurna Marathon 42K in June.
Budha comes from a farming family in Nepal’s remote Jumla district, and trained as an ultra marathoner on Nepal’s rugged mountain terrain.&nbsp;
"I have traveled to many countries, but the best place I can train is in my village, Jumla," Budha said following her victory last week. "I have a big team supporting me — without them, it would not be possible to be strategic and consistent. This win is for everyone who believes Nepali runners deserve a future as professional athletes."
The athlete is part of the Asia Pacific Adventure Group, led by team director Ryan S. Blair and coach Andy Dubois. She is ranked world 8th for 100km category events and 17th in the world by the International Trail Running Association (ITRA).
"As countries with strong sporting traditions celebrate their athletes as national treasures, Nepal must do the same — honouring runners not only when they win, but throughout their demanding professional careers," says Preeti Khattri, Director of Nepal Trail Series Pvt Ltd and team lead for the Nepali contingent, who manages local operations for APA's professional Nepali trail runners.&nbsp;
She added: "Athletes like Sunmaya carry the nation's identity, discipline, and resilience onto the world stage. Their presence brings immense pride to all Nepalis- which can be a big advantage for the tourism industry too."&nbsp;
SUNMAYA BUDHA - 2025 SEASON&nbsp;
1. Anta Hong Kong 100 (18 January)&nbsp;
● Distance: 102km, 4,882m elevation gain&nbsp;
● Result: 1st place (Winner)&nbsp;
● Time: 11:11:47&nbsp;
● New course record (27 minutes faster than previous record)&nbsp;
2. Chengdu Trail 60 (29 March)&nbsp;
● Distance: 58.2km, 2,650m elevation gain&nbsp;
● Result: 1st place (Winner)&nbsp;
● Time: 05:41:48&nbsp;
● Overall: 9th out of 926 runners&nbsp;
3. Ultra-Trail Mount Yun by UTMB - 30K (20 April)&nbsp;
● Distance: 29.7km, 1,751m elevation gain&nbsp;
● Result: 1st place (Winner)&nbsp;
● Time: 03:10:12&nbsp;
● Overall: 3rd out of 1,144 runners&nbsp;
4. Annapurna Marathon 42K (3 June)&nbsp;
● Distance: 42 km&nbsp;
● Result: 1st place (Winner)&nbsp;
5. World Mountain and Trail Running Championships - Long Trail (27 September)&nbsp;
● Location: Canfranc-Pirineos, Spain&nbsp;
● Distance: 82 km, 5,413m elevation gain&nbsp;
● Result: 2nd place (Silver Medal)&nbsp;
● Time: 10:23:03&nbsp;
● Winner: Katie Schide (USA) - 9:57:59&nbsp;
6. Ultra-Trail Cape Town 100k (22 November)&nbsp;
● Distance: 99km, 4,676m elevation gain
● Result: 1st place (Winner) - World Trail Majors Champion&nbsp;
● Time: 12:25:55&nbsp;
● Nearly one hour ahead of 2nd place

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Nepali ultra-marathoner claims World Trail Majors title

Rabindra Dhant stood at the centre of the octagonal ring at Shaheed Vijay Singh Sports Complex in Noida near New Delhi earlier this month. White trunks, mouth open, breathing heavy, taking it all in. A <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5921">Nepal flag</a> was draped proudly over his shoulders as the national anthem played. The referee raised Dhant’s hand in victory. A gold championship belt joined the flag on his shoulders, as confetti burst into the air. “After 54 seconds of round 3, for your winner, by knockout, and the new Matrix Fight Night bantamweight champion, Rabindra Dhant,” belted the announcer. Dhant had just defeated Chungren ‘The Indian Rhino’ Koren, 27, from Manipur in the main event of Indian fight promotion Matrix Fight Night (MFN) on 2 August in the bantamweight division (125-135 lbs). Koren had been confident he could easily overpower the fighter from Nepal, and said as much: “He’s a kid, I’m going to break him mentally. It’s not going to be a problem.” Dhant was more subdued. Before the main event, he told the interviewer: &nbsp;“I am not feeling a lot of pressure, I feel pretty normal since I have fought in international promotions and quite a bit in India.” In round one the two touched gloves and started tentatively, before locking in a clinch against the cage. The fight went to the ground, and Dhant moved seamlessly to first mount and then get behind Koren, raining in punches and causing early damage.&nbsp; Koren stood up and ate a barrage of kicks to the body. Koren had his moments punching back in the first round, but could not sustain a long attack. Already in the second round, it was clear that Dhant had a fuller gas tank. He wriggled out of bad positions and turned them quickly into pins and punches. Koren’s background in wrestling showed, with some pretty smooth transitions, and ended the round on top, having locked in a ‘Darce’ choke, in which the arm triangles around their opponent’s neck and shoulder. But Koren was clearly exhausted by the third round, and even the commentator noticed. Dhant still looked fresh and was able to land strike after strike on his sluggish opponent, who was soon knocked out. The Nepalis in the audience, many wearing<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/dauraa-suvaal"> topi</a>, erupted in delight.&nbsp; Dhant’s improbable journey to become a professional fighter started from a tiny village in Bajhang. Like most young men from this district in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-healer-of-far-western-nepal">far-western Nepal</a>, he went to India after school and worked first as a labourer in Pithoragarh and then in an office in New Delhi. The foray into <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/karate-travellers-in-kathmandu">martial arts </a>started with training in karate in the mornings. Dhant’s coaches noted his abilities, and pushed him to explore mixed martial arts (MMA). Dhant took to the sport immediately, winning first a local fight night, then a national-level amateur competition. All while facing pressure from home to give up the sport -- there simply was no money in it. He continued fighting professionally in New Delhi and started coaching at the local gym. During and after Covid, he would bounce between Nepal and India, finding it harder and harder to find opportunities to fight, and even considered <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/migrants-returning-from-the-gulf-with-infertility">migrating to the Gulf</a>. It was then that he met Jiu Jitsu coach Diwiz Piya, who was struck by Dhant’s talent, fearlessness, and humility. Only after their first training session did Dhant reveal his fighting background. Dhant started training under Piya, who helped fix fights across India. Dhant won six fights in a row, earning a chance to fight in the ONE Fighting Championship. He won his first ONE FC fight in September 2023 against the Russian Torepchi Dongak, but then lost to Ismail Khan of Pakistan. Dhant regrouped and had two more wins. His last fight had been at the BRAVE CF 93 in Zhengzhou where he had taken on Chinese fighter Eqiyuebu, wrestling him to the ground, getting behind him, and knocking him out with punches — an effective strategy referred to as ground and pound. Dhant had then been training out of Soma Fight Club in Bali, Indonesia, when the opportunity for the fight at MFN came up. “This fight came about, I wouldn’t say out of nowhere. We had always anticipated a fight in MFN,” says Piya, who also manages Dhant in addition to coaching him. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/girl-gurkhas">Girl Gurkhas</a>, Monika Deupala  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025082218084_5f6f0ec5ca1132e6565adcca14bf08bffbdf71b013b905514a4cadcb0564826b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="2025082218084_5f6f0ec5ca1132e6565adcca14bf08bffbdf71b013b905514a4cadcb0564826b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1499" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Fighting tooth and nail for Nepal NT"> </figure>  No-holds barred The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/gianna-subba-mma-fighter,2015">sport of MMA</a> is about professional fighting. It is about defeating the other person in the ring, through submission holds or a knockout. Or, in the case that neither of those yield definitive results, a panel of judges decides which fighter was better overall. As the name suggests, MMA involves a melding of martial arts, including boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, judo, wrestling, submission grappling, karate, and taekwondo. This makes for a much more complex and complete fighting sport than, say, boxing, which only allows punches. This no-holds-barred fighting originated in ancient Greece as Pankration blended wrestling and boxing, and allowed strikes, pins, and submissions. Limits were drawn at biting and eye gouging. Fights often lasted for hours, and it was one of the most popular events at the ancient Olympics. In its modern form MMA was born in the early 1990s in Colorado, with an organisation called Ultimate Fighting Championship. The early instances of the UFC saw athletes from different styles fight each other. A kickboxer went up against a practitioner of Kenpo Karate, and a boxer fought an athlete trained in Brazilian jiu jitsu, a submission grappling martial art. As the sport matured and athletes got better and more professional, MMA became more structured, and disciplines started blurring into each other.&nbsp; It is also one of the only sports where <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Fighting-spirit,1442">women fight</a> on the same cards as men, and are respected and appreciated for their skill as much as the other gender. The sport is still in its early stages in Nepal, but maturing quickly. Driving its development is Diwiz Piya, who had been obsessed with fighting and fought in amateur bouts while studying in Thailand. Piya founded Lock n Roll MMA and has been teaching out of The Pump at Jhamsikhel, and Tapout Fitness at Maharajganj. His team of experienced fighters provides world-class instruction on Jiu Jitsu, Kickboxing, and MMA six days a week. Local regulars as well as tourists and expats drop in for their sessions. Lock n Roll has also been holding popular UFC-style fighting events at venues including Club LoD in Thamel, Gyanmandala in Jhamsikhel, and the Dasrath Stadium with Nepali, Indian, and French fighters.&nbsp; Other gyms that teach MMA in Kathmandu include Rage Fitness, Fight Club Nepal, and Gymkhana. Outside Kathmandu, there is the Pokhara Fight Club, as well as a few gyms that teach Muay Thai. Another option is the Himalayan Blood Kickboxing Gym in Damak. Following the win in Noida, Prime Minister K P Oli and Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah have met Dhant. Kathmandu Metropolitan City has awarded him Rs200,000, and Oli announced a Rs500,000 prize.&nbsp; Given Dhant’s journey and an increased audience for the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-women-excel-in-sports-in-2024-z9ramyct">sport in Nepal</a>, one can expect Nepal Warriors Championship (NWC) events to be packed out at bigger venues. But more importantly, this will inspire many more fighters, also from rural parts of the country.&nbsp; Besides Dhant, other rising young Nepali fighters include UK-based Yuki ‘The Gorkha’ Angdembe, and Japan-based kickboxer Abiral ‘Himalayan Cheetah’ Ghimire. For Dhant now, the sky is the limit. He says: “I want to be a fighter from Nepal doing it at the highest level.” &nbsp;&nbsp;

Vishad Raj Onta

Fighting tooth and nail for Nepal

<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/run-sunmaya-run">Nepal’s ultra-marathoner Sunmaya Budha</a> has recently won two races in China: the 60km Ultra Trail Ninghai, on October 19, and the 105km Tsaigu Trail, on November 2. She set course records in both races. A professional t<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-trail-running-champions">rail endurance runner</a> from Jumla, the 26-year-old has been racking up stellar performances around the world. Budha comes from a farming family in Nepal’s remote Jumla district, and defied the wishes of her parents and the expectations of a patriarchal society, to pursue a running career. Between August and her two wins in China, Budha had been competing regularly in Europe with mixed results. On August 29, she ran the prestigious <a href="https://itra.run/Races/RaceDetails/96215" target="_blank">HOKA UTMB Mont-Blanc </a>in the French Alps, but was not able to finish. Then she finished as the first female, and second overall, at the <a href="https://itra.run/Races/RaceDetails/92404" target="_blank">SwissPeaks Trail Marathon</a> in Switzerland on September 7. Then on September 14, Budha finished as the first female, fifth overall, and set a course record at the <a href="https://itra.run/Races/RaceDetails/88657" target="_blank">TORX 2024 30k</a> in Courmayeur, Italy.&nbsp; After such a strong 2024, Budha has her sights locked in on the <a href="https://worldathletics.org/news/news/2025-world-mountain-trail-running-championships-canfranc">2025 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships</a>, to be held in Canfranc-Pirineos, Spain, in September 2025. &nbsp;&nbsp;To qualify for this event, runners have to accumulate ‘Running Stones’ by completing trail running races organized under the UTMB banner. The Ultra Trail Ninghai was one such event. The longer the race, the more Stones a runner earms. &nbsp;&nbsp;A 100-miler yields four Stones, a 100k is three Stones, and a 50k is two Stones. Each Stone collected improves the odds for a runner in the lottery through which athletes are selected for the World Championships. So Budha’s first race in China earned her two Stones. Budha is already planning to participate in the Chiang Mai Thailand by UTMB in December, where she will run 100k.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241115131112_564d750e163cfc26251e9eda759df84454f677a84a5cf170db8943986b1f9b88.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241115131112_564d750e163cfc26251e9eda759df84454f677a84a5cf170db8943986b1f9b88" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Sunmaya Budha stays in the running NT"> </figure>  “Running in China is different to Europe,” Budha told us in Kathmandu. “There are a lot of small mountains, although the actual routes for the race were pretty flat. The elevation is close to sea level, and the climate is mildly hot.” &nbsp; Budha had to deal with an injury after her win in the Ninghai race. With only thirteen days before she raced 105km in the Tsaigu Trail, Budha was training for one and a half hours a day. With four days to go, her ankle hurt so bad that she couldn’t run at all. The Tsaigu Trail 2024 is one of the biggest races in China. It sees mostly domestic runners, as it is promoted only through Chinese social media like WeChat and Weibo. “My confidence for the next race took a hit, because pain in my ankle has been a recurring problem,” says Budha. “My coach thought it was because I pushed too hard immediately after a race.” Budha stopped running and even walking, and used alternating hot and cold baths and massages to treat her injury. Then she went to a physiotherapist, who determined &nbsp;that her ankle was completely fine, and that the source of her pain was muscle tightness in her lower leg. &nbsp; Although expectations were low because of her injury, Budha and her team went ahead with the race. The route for the Tsaigu race was designed such that runners were back at the finish line after their first 5 kilometres, and then they would run the last 100. “We decided that I would run the first five and assess whether I could continue. I felt a little pain at the beginning, and some at the tail end, but I was quite comfortable for most of the race,” recalls Budha.&nbsp; Budha ended up not only winning, but her time of 9:32:47 set a course record, and was more than half an hour faster than second place female, Tang Jinyan from China. This works out to a pace of 5:28/km. &nbsp;The facebook page of Tsaigu trail has uploaded a one minute video of Budha finishing the race. Budha strides strongly as onlookers cheer her on, and she beams as she crosses the finish line.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241115131112_fe76af49c6a0f51815df840410fc9dd1e233012aba6e7b05d1ee8e41d248f911.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20241115131112_fe76af49c6a0f51815df840410fc9dd1e233012aba6e7b05d1ee8e41d248f911" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Sunmaya Budha stays in the running NT"> </figure>  Budha was impressed by the level of organisation of the Tsaigu Trail, as well as the enthusiasm for running amongst the Chinese: “They treated runners really well. Checkpoints were well-stocked with snacks and fruits, and there was a buffet and massages at the finish line.” Budha has earned the ability to train full-time through coveted sponsorships, first from North Face and now from Chinese outdoor brand Kailas FUGA. She does so under the guidance of elite endurance running coach, Andy DuBois from Australia. Her accomplishments in China have gained Budha another sponsorship with Nitecore, a company that makes headlamps. Headlamps are a vital piece of equipment in ultra races that are so long that athletes must run through the night. After Thailand next month, Budha is planning for another race in Hong Kong in January. She will complete other races too in 2025, but at the moment the only event for certain is the World Championships in September. “Hopefully, Nepal will be able to send four or five runners — if the government helps out,” says Budha, “otherwise only sponsored athletes will be able to go.” Budha is now training and living in Kathmandu, with her sister. The rest of her family is still in Jumla. &nbsp;“I talk to them once in a while. I call my parents when I win,” she says. Budha is managed internationally by the Asia Pacific Athlete Team, and locally by Nepal Trail Series. Director of this company, Preeti Khatri, points out that Sunmaya Budha is not the only highly promising prospect in Nepali Trail Running. “We have Suman Kulung who has found sponsors in Austria and is now leading world ranks. Another guy from Rukum was invited to Switzerland for training and since then he is making headlines. A girl from Khotang is smashing Asian trail championships,” says Khatri.

Sunmaya Budha stays in the running

&nbsp;Nepal showed great fight against Bangladesh in the final of the SAFF Women’s Football Championship, but ultimately the Bengal Tigresses were just a little better than the Nepalis at in Kathmandu on Wednesday evening. &nbsp; &nbsp;Following the chaotic <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ruckus-at-the-rangasala">semi-final victory three days previously against India</a>, where play was halted for more than an hour as fans and players protested repeated refereeing mistakes, Nepal wanted to see its women’s team to carry on the momentum against Bangladesh, even though it had beaten Nepal &nbsp;twice before. &nbsp;&nbsp; All tickets for the game were to be sold physically in three locations and thousands were already lining up at 4 am. Ticket sales started at 8 am, and were already sold out in two hours. &nbsp; As the two national anthems rang throughout the Rangasala, the Nepali women lined up in a blue kits against the Bangladeshi team in jerseys that had a red-to-green gradient. Prime Minister KP Oli was in attendance and would hand out trophies, medals and awards at the end of the game.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241031141012_af065ae79f5612c8de0caf9219ba44f7e0e3a13541875669f812936503b3c6d1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241031141012_af065ae79f5612c8de0caf9219ba44f7e0e3a13541875669f812936503b3c6d1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1954" height="1302" loading="lazy" alt="SAFF Women's Championship 2024 NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024103114108_ac06c088fb5431bd6f86049a2e33e623f3a3fdde4713c4f83c5727d7642d2e87.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2024103114108_ac06c088fb5431bd6f86049a2e33e623f3a3fdde4713c4f83c5727d7642d2e87" data-rendition-name="original" width="1779" height="1185" loading="lazy" alt="SAFF Women's Championship 2024 NT"> </figure>  There was intense support from the home crowd on a pitch that looked quite good, in contrast to the state it was in during the monsoon when Japanese Veteran, ex-AC Milan Keisuke Honda, who was playing for Bhutan team Paro FC, called it the worst footballing pitch he had ever seen. Bangladesh had a higher level of quality throughout its squad, and this shone through as they dominated the opening ten minutes with accurate passes through the midfield. Nepal was playing a defensive, counter attacking strategy, with nine outfield players behind the ball and ‘Samba’ Bhandari playing as a lone forward. Nepal’s plan for the game was to be solid at the back and then hoof it forward to Samba, and hope that she could come up with a moment of magic.&nbsp; She almost did in the 10th minute, rattling a shot against the crossbar. Her play was excellent throughout: she held up the ball, hardly lost it, and sprayed accurate passes to her teammates. Unfortunately due to the style Nepal was playing, she often seemed to not get enough support and lacked options to continue play.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241031141012_4e654f608e218746a54dfd5679da3bf0bfe02439cc21d5045508f5f09481889e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241031141012_4e654f608e218746a54dfd5679da3bf0bfe02439cc21d5045508f5f09481889e" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1362" loading="lazy" alt="SAFF Women's Championship 2024 NT"> </figure>  Nepal grew into the game as the first half carried on and 19-year old midfielder Preeti Rai stood out in midfield. Rai seemed to understand exactly what to do in order to not lose the ball, through finding the correct pass or through taking an intelligent touch to get away momentarily from a Bangla defender trying to win the ball back. Although both teams had a number of chances, neither had scored when they went in for halftime. Nepal was holding its own against a difficult opponent, who had trounced Bhutan 7-1 in the championship’s other semi-final. &nbsp; While Samba provided a threatening presence up top and Rai calmed things down in midfield, Nepal’s defense was looking worrying. The backs &nbsp;seemed nervous and were often unable to properly deal with Bangladeshi attacks. &nbsp;&nbsp; Sure enough, seven minutes into the second half defensive confusion caused the football to pinball around the Nepali penalty area before falling to Bangladesh midfielder Monika Chakma who calmly scored against Nepali keeper and captain Anjila Tumbapo Subba.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241031141012_284b757e7f6be854fd8a01175347ec744bc97e5a1cc432092bcce3dca0e3e5e5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241031141012_284b757e7f6be854fd8a01175347ec744bc97e5a1cc432092bcce3dca0e3e5e5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1743" height="1161" loading="lazy" alt="SAFF Women's Championship 2024 NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024103114108_e6218ab04f9be5f9b14b096dca90f2cc8632e87e4441c5df10a4830c1e19e2d5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024103114108_e6218ab04f9be5f9b14b096dca90f2cc8632e87e4441c5df10a4830c1e19e2d5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="SAFF Women's Championship 2024 NT"> </figure>  &nbsp;Subba may have had a better chance if she had dived at Chakma’s feet, but she slid in like a defender towards the ball and Nepal found itself &nbsp;one goal behind. &nbsp; But just four minutes later, Preeti Rai threaded a through ball through three Bangla defenders. Forward Amisha Karki ran onto the pass and had plenty of time to ready herself before finishing past the goalkeeper.&nbsp; Just like after the restart in the semifinal against India, Nepal acted quickly to get themselves back in the game. The stadium had only been in panic mode for a short while and was now back loud and supporting the Nepali team. &nbsp; Video panned to an employee of the seemingly ubiquitous and monopolistic Garud Security, enjoying the action, wearing a high visibility neon vest with ‘Karate Black Belt’ emblazoned on the back. Besides the approximately 20,000 strong Rangasala audience, there were a record one million concurrent viewers to the livestream of the match on YouTube.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241031141012_e78ec325925a2e6dd9e6ab3a21df85e04ddf2b245d8ff26e7818b338bd13408b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241031141012_e78ec325925a2e6dd9e6ab3a21df85e04ddf2b245d8ff26e7818b338bd13408b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1367" loading="lazy" alt="SAFF Women's Championship 2024 NT"> </figure>  The game grew more open as both teams looked for a winner. There were chances for both: Bangladesh midfielder shot well from distance in the 67th minute, but keeper Subba was able to catch the ball. Then in the 72st minute Samba ran onto a lofted through pass and was almost through on goal. She opened her body up and shot for the far corner of the Bangla goal, but the angle was against her and the ball rolled across. In the 81st minute, following several scary scrambles in the Nepali defense, Ritu Chakma found herself on the ball on the left flank for Bangladesh. Chakma unleashed a wicked cross into the Nepali box with her left foot. It swerved and dipped, wrong-footing Subba, who was still able to get a hand to the ball but was unable to keep it from entering the net. The crowd was stunned. Nepal had not gotten a clear cut chance after equalizing, and now had only three minutes to find another goal to send the final to penalties.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241031141012_1191ccfd7072a0e8b056a9e7bbeae1c6b2731792662e065fb573e8d92f22da88.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20241031141012_1191ccfd7072a0e8b056a9e7bbeae1c6b2731792662e065fb573e8d92f22da88" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1416" loading="lazy" alt="SAFF Women's Championship 2024 NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241031141020_23edb5db34d1d4388b2768be7ab3cf1b6e25d5204e00cc7500d0ee16e79358a8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20241031141020_23edb5db34d1d4388b2768be7ab3cf1b6e25d5204e00cc7500d0ee16e79358a8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1728" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="SAFF Women's Championship 2024 NT"> </figure>  &nbsp;Despite their efforts and several substitutions, Nepal could not find a way back again. The Bangladesh team were overjoyed at the final whistle, and took laps around the field and celebrated near a group of Bangla supporters. An exhausted, disappointed Nepali team fell to the ground, having lost another final. The Nepali players should be proud of the performance they put in throughout the tournament and especially in the semis and the final. They pushed a much better Bangla team right to the limit. What was most evident was the gulf in quality between Samba and Preeti Rai and everyone else in the Nepali team: while Samba and Rai almost always displayed correct play, the rest of the squad made mistakes at crucial times. The home crowd showed out to support Nepal’s female athletes, taking matters into their own hands to protest inept, helpless officiating. They didn’t repeat this behavior when we were beaten fair and square in the final, which would have diminished the protests in the game against India. An excellent drone shot at the end of the match showed the floodlit Rangasala and a gridlocked Tripuresqor roundabout as Nepalis streamed out of the stadium: disappointed, but not dejected.

Nepal defeated but not dejected

Nepali athletes have not won any medals in the ongoing Olympics in France, but their participation in judo, shooting, swimming and taekwondo, is seen as a source of national pride.&nbsp; If breakdancing can be an Olympic sport, why isn’t trail running? If it was, Nepali runners would have a good chance of podium finishes on the Olympic stage. Nepal’s performance in international football has been inconsistent, with some regional successes but limited impact on the larger Asian stage. The men and women’s cricket teams have performed well, achieving ODI status and competing in the ICC T20 World Cup qualifiers.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240810080824_ed056b7ba2ce18f7132f548c7923aa292384574c20b0b73d8c3c1c5ba9740fb9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240810080824_ed056b7ba2ce18f7132f548c7923aa292384574c20b0b73d8c3c1c5ba9740fb9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2250" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Sunmaya Budha NT"> <figcaption>Sunmaya Budha hit record timing in China’s Wenling 70km race this year.(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  But it is Nepal’s trail and ultra-athletes who have gained significant recognition in international mountain and trail running races. Better acclimatised because of our natural high-altitude training, trail runners like Dawa Dachhiri Sherpa, Sangé Sherpa, Sunmaya Budha, Bhim Gurung, Tirtha Tamang, Mira Rai have won at prestigious events and set records. Mira Rai has become an international icon, and was named National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2017.&nbsp; Nepal’s topography provides an excellent training ground, enhancing the performance of athletes in this field. The sport was unrecognised even in Nepal despite Nepali runners making headlines internationally, and it was only in 2023 that the National Sports Council paved the way for its national recognition.&nbsp; The Adventure Running Federation was set up to encourage trail running which has more of a niche audience compared to cricket or football. Still, it would be pity if Nepal did not invest in its athletes who can make the country proud, just as Kenyan and Ethiopian marathoners have.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/run-sunmaya-run">Run, Sunmaya, run</a>, Vishad Raj Onta <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2Fp0xDZN0wfIg%3Fsi%3DupPajyK-ZgHwbbiV&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> Globally, the popularity of mountain and trail running has surged in the past two decades, driven by a growing interest in outdoor and adventure sports. Endurance sports like the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) and Western States Endurance Run in the US have gained prominence, inspiring athletes worldwide. The US market for trail running gear, including shoes, apparel, and accessories, is valued at approximately $1.5 billion to $2 billion.&nbsp; The European market for trail running gear is as high as $1 billion as major trail running events in the Alps of France, Italy, and Switzerland support its growth. &nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/hurtling-through-the-himalaya">Hurtling through the Himalaya</a>, Vishad Raj Onta <h2>Runner Rankings</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240810080824_988b0a95e4632dcbfe38be50673e6733545e4421cab6c52a8a1cb5f07ea74d42.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240810080824_988b0a95e4632dcbfe38be50673e6733545e4421cab6c52a8a1cb5f07ea74d42" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="2666" loading="lazy" alt="Arjun Rai Kulung"> <figcaption>Arjun Rai Kulung galloping in the Skyrace Pikey Peak 2023 at 4,046m elevation. He is third on ITRA Top Nepali Male. </figcaption> </figure>  The ranking database of the International Trail Running Association (ITRA) is handy in keeping track of international mountain and trail runners, and we can compare them with Nepal’s top 5 male and female athletes (table, right).&nbsp; The ITRA performance scoring system is designed to evaluate and standardise the performance of trail runners across various events globally. Introduced to enhance fairness and transparency in trail running, the scoring system assigns scores based on runners’ results in qualifying races. The Elite level has been redefined by raising the entry level to above 825 for men whereas previously it was above 800. For women it is considered to be above 700.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240810080824_f75f55e79d455601201b911f714e22c93ca01c0dbdcc0d0d73df3f12e8701981.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240810080824_f75f55e79d455601201b911f714e22c93ca01c0dbdcc0d0d73df3f12e8701981" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Trail runner rankings NT"> </figure>  The categories have been refined. A new category, Top Elite, has been created for men with scores of 900 and above, and women with a scores of 775 and above. As expected, there are very few Top Elite runners, and they are the best in the world.&nbsp; Nepal’s past trail runners are working to get back into form, while others have left the country in search of better job. The state’s investment in selection of new talent and training could help Nepal win more medals in international events in a sport that seems to be designed for a Himalayan nation like ours. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/trail-running-trail-blazer">Trail-running trail blazer</a>, Sanghamitra Subba

Nepali trail running champions

Now the Euro Cup fever is over (“Forza Italia!”)  and we have all caught up with much-needed sleep, let us gear up for the Tokyo Virtual Olympics 2021.This year, the Olympics organisers have made sure that it is first games in the modern era to be conducted in a city that is under an emergency. But I must play the donkey’s advocate here and argue that the Olympics has always been constrained by sports that date back to Ancient Greece.If the discus throw can be a track and field sport, then we should also include marathon discussions in parliamentary committees as a category in Nepal’s National Games. We have some sure fire gold medalists in that sport.And javelin throw? How is that relevant in this day and age? Imagine if domestic terrorists get hold of such weapons. Even more absurd is the shot put, which harks back to the age of lugging around cannon balls in the heat of battle. Modern warfare has moved on – today we incinerate the enemy with lasers.The International Ass. of Athletic Federations would do well to change some of the categories to reflect more modern methods of biological warfare like the Kathmandu Runs, which Nepalis would win hands-down since all of us have so much practice.Nepalis have broken all records in breaking records, and the Tokyo Olympics is a god-send opportunity for us to claim even more entries into the Guinness Book like the Nepali tv news anchor who conducted a continuous 62-hour talk show, the world’s most frequent prime minister, the most-rightwing Communist Party, the fastest clock in the world, and of all the donkey species in the world, Nepal has the biggest asses.One sport that Nepalis have increasingly excelled in is rubber-band chungi. It will be too late to include it in the Tokyo Olympics, but we should definitely have it among the categories for the next games and start grooming our top notch chungi champs with a supplementary diet of performance-enhancing yarsagumba. It will be a proud moment for Nepal’s gold medalist in Rome in 2026 when the double triangle is raised to the tune of the national anathema.Another Nepali sport that was popular in Nepal before the invention of the ball is dandi biu. We have to tweak it a bit and call it dandi charge so that contestants from the Police Club, who have been practicing it at recent street rallies, can reap medals at future international championships.We are glad to see that mountain biking is finally an Olympic sport, but it has always been a bit unfair that mountaineering has been kept out of the world games because it is one sport in which Nepalis could sweep the medals tally.After all, if scantily attired women whose noses are clipped with clothespins can take part in an Olympic event called synchronised swimming, I personally see no reason why our Icefall Doctors should not.If it is problem, we can have Nepali participants in the mountaineering category climb Mt Fuji with their noses clipped with clothespins.

The Ass

Nepal’s Olympic dreams

Nepalis worship the sun, and mark its seasonal passage with festivals. Adding to that spiritual reverence now is the economic relevance of solar power. Fast-flowing Himalayan rivers give Nepal a total feasible hydropower generation capacity of 48,000MW, of which only 3,600 has so far been harnessed. Yet, Nepal’s total solar power potential has been calculated to be nearly 10 times higher at 432,000MW. &nbsp; With over 300 days of sunshine a year, the country could produce 3.6 to 6.2 units of electricity per square meter based on its solar radiation levels.&nbsp; This potential, combined with decreasing installation costs of Chinese-manufactured photovoltaic cells and other means, is a viable and affordable alternative to Nepal’s over-reliance on hydropower which faces concerns about the destruction of riverine ecosystems, as well as risk from glacial lake floods caused by climate breakdown. However, restrictive domestic energy policies and geopolitical sensitivities mean Nepal is failing to diversify fast enough to tap this tremendous solar energy potential. Nepal’s hydropower generation is almost entirely from run-of-river projects that do not have large reservoirs. Many such projects in Nepal and across the Himalaya have been swept away by glacial lake outburst floods in recent years.&nbsp; Such risks and limitations to hydropower should have prompted the Nepal government to jump-start investment into solar farms, but the main reason is that the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) caps solar power at just 10% of total capacity. There is no official explanation, but it is likely due to the outdated perception that solar technology cannot supply a consistent energy stream at evening and morning peak loads.&nbsp; But today, there are plenty of ways around it, including pump storage schemes that use daytime solar power to pump water from a river to a reservoir and drain it to generate electricity at night. Battery technology is now more advanced, and affordable enough to make grid-scale batteries feasible.&nbsp; But then there is an issue of tariffs, which are much lower for solar at Rs5 per energy unit, and competitive bidding forces companies to lower it even further. But there is no bidding process for hydropower and licenses are given out on a first-come, first-served basis with a fixed rate of Rs6.5 per unit regardless of location.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025112303118_c3280cddae6f3305d07319011dd9c187005822a9b905bb849c36b95e3ad0d516.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025112303118_c3280cddae6f3305d07319011dd9c187005822a9b905bb849c36b95e3ad0d516" data-rendition-name="original" width="1109" height="887" loading="lazy" alt="Here comes the sun"> </figure>  SUPPLY VS DEMAND Hydropower is supply-driven, while solar responds to demand, so under such a discouraging scenario, solar power accounts for only 5% of Nepal’s total energy mix. “Given the environmental risks to hydropower, investors are now demanding tariffs on hydropower to be increased. So the question to the government is, are you paying more money for hydropower or willing to buy more of the cheaper solar power,” said energy entrepreneur Kushal Gurung. Solar investors are lobbying the government to raise the cap on solar power to 30% and expand zoning policies so that solar plants can be built in areas with high potential, such as Dolpo and Mustang in the trans-Himalaya. These regions are sparsely populated, arid, have a cold climate and high solar radiation levels — ideal conditions for photovoltaics. Solar power’s biggest advantage is its cost-effectiveness compared to hydropower, with the operating cost of a hydropower plant up to four times higher than of a solar plant of the same generation capacity. Investors are no longer assured of a return on investment on hydropower due to climate risk which have increased insurance premiums. “Last year, when the government opened a bidding for 800MW of solar power, the private sector was ready to invest 3,000MW. Both banks and investors were convinced about the potential for solar energy, but the government and especially the bureaucracy, was not on the same wavelength,” added Gurung.&nbsp; Interim Energy Minister Kulman Ghising is said to be interested in increasing the cap on solar energy, but there is a question whether he will remain in office since he has launched his only Ujyalo Nepal party to contest elections in March. GEOGRAPHY AND GEOPOLITICS In 2018, Nepal’s only foreign private equity form Dolma Himalayan Climate Fund (DHCF) pitched a proposal to generate 150MW from a solar farm and store 20MW of it in battery systems in Mustang to meet seasonal and daily peaks. It got approval from Investment Board Nepal (IBN) and had already poured millions into the project when the Department of Mines instructed all developers in Mustang to halt their projects, citing the discovery of uranium ore. But insiders say the real reason was due to pressure from the Chinese government’s security concerns about a Western investor being involved so close to the border with Tibet.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025112303118_5946a5f1ba63f34c88f900c6d12b37d0101effb76e8a7a5397cd6451c16cd5b2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025112303118_5946a5f1ba63f34c88f900c6d12b37d0101effb76e8a7a5397cd6451c16cd5b2" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="450" loading="lazy" alt="Here comes the sun NT"> <figcaption>Photo: GHAM POWER</figcaption> </figure>  The same thing happened, but in reverse, when the Chinese company Risen Energy was interested in investing $190 million on a grid-connected 125MW photovoltaic generation system in Banke and Kapilvastu districts near the Indian border. Risen’s subsidiary, Risen Energy Singapore JV, was negotiating with IBN to commit $190 million in the project which would also store 20MW of daytime generation for morning and evening peak demand. But the agreement was not signed because the Indian authorities were concerned about Chinese involvement so close to their border. India has also refused to buy electricity from any hydropower plant in Nepal that has Chinese or other foreign investment or contractors. Indian state-owned companies are currently building or planning hydropower plants in Nepal to generate nearly 3,000MW, mostly for export.&nbsp; But not every Chinese-backed project has been blocked. In 2024, China handed over two solar-powered livelihood projects to a local community in Lalitpur — a community solar bathhouse and a rooftop photovoltaic power system. Funded by the Yunnan People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the projects aim to improve living conditions. The initiative forms part of the Chinese Embassy’s ‘Happy Community’ program (幸福社区, Xìngfú Shèqū) under the China–South Asia Poverty Reduction and Development Cooperation Center.&nbsp; Says Gurung: “Hydropower is a geopolitical mess, but it has well and truly started in solar power too. It now all comes down to how we handle it, and we need deft diplomacy to make sure our projects are not indefinitely delayed as has happened in the past.”&nbsp; LOW-HANGING FRUIT Despite domestic restrictions and geopolitics, there are still small-scale opportunities for solar energy entrepreneurs to cash in, such as net metering. Most industries in Nepal have enough rooftop space to generate 500KW to 1MW of solar energy. Combined, they would generate a substantial amount of energy to feed into the grid. Factories, supermarkets and chain stores are often bankable and trusted by financial institutions from which they could easily get credit.&nbsp; China could also take advantage of Nepal’s high solar power potential. Given that the United States has only imposed a 10% tariff on Nepal, China could set up PV manufacturing plants in Nepal.&nbsp; However, this requires government-to-government which could run into trouble, again because of geopolitics. The same applies for the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism which is a carbon tariff on carbon intensive products, such as steel, cement and some electricity, imported to the European Union.&nbsp; Chinese products have suffered under this mechanism but Chinese products made in Nepal can be competitive in the European market given lower carbon tax for Nepal. Clean energy has long been an area where Nepal hopes to attract Chinese investment — not only in hydropower, but also in solar and wind energy.&nbsp; With contributions from Qian Sun, Global Voices.&nbsp;

Nepal, here comes the sun

There were two Bhutans on display during Narendra Modi’s visit this month. The first: a trusted partner, modernising rapidly with Indian support, inaugurating hydroelectric projects, and signing healthcare deals. The second: a nation that <a href="https://www.fmreview.org/gazmere-bishwo/#:~:text=In%201990%2D91%2C%20about%20a,are%20therefore%20not%20Bhutanese%20citizens.">ethnically cleansed 17% of its population </a>and has never been held accountable.
Modi chose to see only the <a href="https://kuenselonline.com/news/pm-modi-concludes-bhutan-visit-with-prayers-for-peace-and-prosperity">first </a>during his <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/india-announces-rs-4000-cr-concessional-credit-line-to-fund-energy-projects-in-bhutan/articleshow/125253915.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&amp;utm_medium=text&amp;utm_campaign=cppst">11-12 November visit</a>, granting $450 million in credit, offering birthday tributes to Fourth King Jigme Singye Wangchuk, and inaugurating another hydropower project.
New Delhi has opted for strategic silence on Bhutan’s systematic persecution of the Lhotshampas in the 1990s. The displaced remain scattered across the world and in refugee camps in Nepal, their property seized, their citizenship revoked.&nbsp;
Now, on that same contested land Bhutan is building the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/small-bhutan-dreams-big">Gelephu Mindful City (GMC)</a>, a megaproject intended to <a href="https://kuenselonline.com/news/pm-modi-announces-inr-40-billion-credit-line-new-rail-links-and-land-for-bhutanese-temple-in-varanasi">connect directly to Indian infrastructure</a>. The victims are gone, and democratic India’s values remain conspicuously absent.&nbsp;
With no Lhotshampas left to challenge the official narrative and India unwilling to raise it, Bhutan continues to suppress dissent with impunity.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, social media influencer Raghu Pati Subedi was arrested on the Assam side of Gelephu after returning from a visit to relatives in India. His family members reportedly came under intense pressure, including threats of arrest, accusing them of hiding his whereabouts. After his arrest, he was transported to Thimphu and imprisoned.
This was not an isolated incident. It is part of systemic repression that first gained international attention in the 1990s, when over 100,000 Nepali-speaking Lhotshampa were systematically stripped of their citizenship and forcibly exiled. This mass expulsion, which human rights organisations have characterised as ethnic cleansing, created a decades-long refugee crisis that continues to define the regional political and human rights landscape.&nbsp;
EXODUS
The Lhotshampa crisis of the 1990s was not a spontaneous event but the culmination of years of state-led discrimination. Through a series of legislative acts, notably the 1985 Citizenship Act and the 1989 Driglam Namzha, the ‘One Nation, One People’ policy, the Bhutanese state systematically dismantled the rights of its Nepali-speaking citizens.&nbsp;
The use of the Nepali language was suppressed, the traditional dress of the ruling ethnic group was mandated, and citizenship was revoked en masse, rendering a significant portion of the population stateless in their own homeland.
The new manuscript I am editing has harrowing accounts by the authors of those atrocities. The parallels with what happened to Subedi recently are striking and troubling, showing that even after 35 years the regime has not changed its spots. The methods may have evolved, but the repression against dissidents remains disturbingly consistent.
This refugee exodus was an immense and unasked-for burden on Nepal. Despite being a country grappling with its own political instability and limited resources, Nepal accommodated them on humanitarian grounds. Nepal has consistently advocated for a durable solution centered on the refugees’ right to safe, voluntary, and dignified repatriation.
For years, it engaged in bilateral talks with Bhutan, culminating in a joint verification process. However, these efforts ultimately foundered on what Nepal described as ‘continued rigidity and non-implementation of the agreed decisions by the Bhutanese side’.
Nepal fulfilled its moral and humanitarian duty, but the international community largely failed to hold Bhutan accountable. Bhutan’s rulers deflected global attention with the masterful narrative of Gross National Happiness (GNH), while the grim reality in the refugee camps persisted.&nbsp;
Ultimately, with repatriation proving impossible, Nepal acquiesced to a third-country resettlement program led by a group of eight countries, including the United States, Canada, and Australia. From 2007 to 2016, more than 113,500 Bhutanese refugees were resettled in <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/media/nepal-factsheet">one of the largest group resettlement programmes globally</a>, though 6,365 remain in refugee camps in eastern Nepal.
While this solution provided a lifeline for thousands, it was a tragic capitulation to Bhutan’s ethnic homogenisation project. The refugees’ right to return to their homeland has been denied. It is a cautionary tale about the limits of international diplomacy in the face of state intransigence.
Bhutan’s global brand is one of its most successful exports. The <a href="https://www.gnhcentrebhutan.org/">Gross National Happiness </a>doctrine, which promotes holistic well-being over just economic growth, has captivated the Western imagination and policymakers. It offers a vision of a mindful, environmentally conscious, and peaceful Himalayan kingdom. This carefully cultivated image has historically aimed to shield Bhutan from the level of scrutiny applied to other nations with similar human rights records.
The GNH facade, however, cracks under the weight of documented evidence. The same kingdom that champions ‘happiness’ has, for decades, maintained a justice system that human rights groups allege relies on torture, coerced confessions, and draconian laws to silence opposition.
The 1992 National Security Act, with its vague definitions of ‘treasonable acts’ against the Tsa-Wa-Sum (King, Country, and People), has been a primary tool for suppressing political dissent, particularly from the Lhotshampa.
Overlooked by the international community and ignored by global powers including India, in responding robustly to the ethnic cleansing of the 1990s sent a clear message to Thimphu: such actions could be undertaken with impunity. The monarchy emerged unscathed, its reputation burnished rather than tarnished.&nbsp;
This historical impunity now echoes in the case of Raghu Pati Subedi and the <a href="https://www.cijnepal.org/new-list-of-political-prisoners-expected-to-set-off-discussion-on-bhutans-human-rights-record">continued imprisonment of dozens of political prisoners</a> of conscience. The global community’s reluctance to challenge the GNH narrative has, in effect, become a form of complicity.
The arrest and sentencing of a social media influencer demonstrates how old tactics have been adapted for the digital age. Subedi, 40, was a new kind of threat to the state-controlled narrative and he had to be made an example of.&nbsp;
As the founder and administrator of the popular Facebook page ‘The Don of Asia’, he bypassed traditional, state-influenced media to speak directly to about 78,000 followers. His content, informational and satirical videos on rural poverty, corruption, and the GMC project, was the kind of social media activism that was deemed intolerable.
Subedi was arrested in early 2025 and sentenced to 24 years in prison. The charges allegedly stemmed from Subedi’s social media criticism of the GMC, a flagship project of Nepal-born Bhutanese fifth King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck.&nbsp;
For <a href="https://thenewamericansmag.com/2024/11/18/the-kings-gelephu-mindfulness-city/#:~:text=Ganga%20Lamitare%2C%20who%20owns%20four,ancestors%20in%20building%20the%20nation.">Bhutanese refugees like Gangaram Lamitare</a>, the GMC represents a bitter irony, a development rising on their confiscated ancestral lands.&nbsp;
Gangaram, who owns four acres where the GMC’s international airport is now under construction, says: “Many people from villages fled at night in 1990, leaving everything behind to escape oppression. Now, the Bhutanese king and ministers are spreading falsehoods worldwide, calling this land vacant, which actually belongs to those forced to leave the country.”&nbsp;
There are signs that international support that has benefited Bhutan may be waning. The United Nations has become increasingly vocal and last year the <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/issues/detention-wg/opinions/session101/a-hrc-wgad-60-2024-bhutan-advance-edited-ve.pdf">UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention</a> said the detention of several Bhutanese political prisoners was arbitrary and illegal under international law.&nbsp;
In April 2025 from a group of six UN human rights experts raised grave concerns about the use of torture, denial of fair trials, and the ‘severe chilling effect’ of Bhutan’s legal framework on civic space. These developments owe much to the consistent advocacy of the Hague-based Global Campaign for the Release of Political Prisoners in Bhutan (GCRPPB) since its formation.
However, they also reflect broader shifts in international human rights scrutiny. This places Bhutan’s key international partners, particularly the European Union, in a critical position. Bhutan enjoys lucrative benefits under the EU’s ‘Everything but Arms’ trade scheme, which grants developing countries tariff-free access to the EU market contingent on respect for human rights.&nbsp;
The EU is also a significant provider of development aid to Bhutan which provides it with substantial leverage. In April 2025, members of the <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/saskiabricmont.bsky.social/post/3lmrn5mkmrs2q">European Parliament formally called on Bhutan</a> to release all political prisoners. This action signals a growing recognition that trade and partnership cannot be divorced from human rights obligations.&nbsp;
“Bhutan’s international partners and investors, including the EU, should make it clear that they expect Bhutan to comply with its human rights obligations and release them without further delay,” says Meenakshi Ganguly, of Human Rights Watch.&nbsp;
Bhutan stands at a crossroads. Its desire for deeper global economic integration is colliding with its unresolved history of human rights abuses. The international community now has a choice: either continue being charmed by the myth of a happy shangri-la or insist that the kingdom adheres to democratic values it professes to the world.&nbsp;
Nepal’s recent Gen-Z uprising offers a lesson to Bhutan. In September, when authorities attempted to ban 26 social media, Nepali youth took to the streets and, within hours, toppled the entire pro-establishment political apparatus. Their message was clear: in an age of digital connectivity and mass mobilisation, authoritarian tactics such as detaining social media influencers are both unjust and ultimately unsustainable.
This incident echoes the prophetic warnings of Devi Bhakta Lamitare, Bhutan’s first-generation democratic leader, who died in exile in India in 2022. In his seminal 1970 book
Dankindo Bhutan, Lamitare chronicled the systematic suppression of people’s rights and envisioned a path toward liberation.
Before his death, I worked with him to update and edit this work, which the Bhutan Media Society published posthumously in 2023. In a December 2020 interview I conducted for the book on the Ganga riverbank in Haridwar, Lamitare laid out a stark three-front offensive: political mobilisation from within India to awaken resistance inside Bhutan itself, relentless pressure on New Delhi to champion democracy, and a global ‘pamphlet war’ waged by resettled Bhutanese in the West.&nbsp;
Only through such sustained action, he argues, can Bhutanese citizens win the right to choose their own rulers, a principle India, the world’s largest democracy, should be championing, not abandoning.
Binod Dhungel is the Nepal correspondent for Reporters Without Borders.
<a href="http://linkedin.com/in/dhungelbinod" target="_blank">linkedin.com/in/dhungelbinod</a>, @BinodDhungel

Bhutan imprisons social media influencer

&nbsp;Nepal has finally become famous the world over for something else besides Mt Everest — the GenZ Movement. The 8 September protests in Kathmandu may have been triggered by what happened in Jakarta a week previously, but it inspired street uprisings all over the world. This week, Mexico’s GenZ are clashing with riot police. Last month, the president of Madagascar fled to Dubai. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-genzs-inspired-filipinos" target="_blank">Philippines</a>, Morocco, Peru, Timor Leste all have seen similar anti-government protests against corruption, nepotism and poor governance. A Himalayan republic, a Latin American federation, a Southeast Asian archipelago, or a North African kingdom may have little in common, their histories, religions, languages, and political systems are worlds apart. But <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/world/gen-z-revolutions-protests-louvre-heist-gaza.html" target="_blank">the common thread</a> running through these demonstrations were the simulacra and symbols spread on social media platforms.&nbsp; The young crowds marching through the streets of these countries were holding up the same icons. They painted the same images on cardboard, waved the same flags, stitched the same badges on their backpacks. They chanted &nbsp;the same references from the same corners of the internet.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_2ff7cf4ce7a9590359ed18753f4977648a6db83e95dd62d602a3f81e9eec42c4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251122031128_2ff7cf4ce7a9590359ed18753f4977648a6db83e95dd62d602a3f81e9eec42c4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1250" height="1047" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> <figcaption> One Piece reference meme on Instagram, 115K likes(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  To anyone who did not grow up online, this looks random. To anyone who did, it feels like the most obvious thing in the world. A new kind of global identity has formed — one that cuts across nationalities and cultures. In Nepal older relatives mock the ‘जेन्जी’. My neighbour asked me if ‘GenZ’ was a new political party.&nbsp; Around the world, when youth-led protests appear, reporters and politicians ask the same question: ‘Who is the leader?’ The answer is the same: there is no leader.&nbsp; Some names come up more prominently, as people did during <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-historic-youth-dissensus?fbclid=IwY2xjawNPQnZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHk5Nazeqz3K9aNddXa-dQfCbwtId0nLclQwHzIYhTfg8tzGWXZMBJ5pjm5Qx_aem_a5JoyT1FRqzCVtnnPM7zUw" target="_blank">the Nepali protests</a>: Sudan Gurung. Miraj Dhungana, Rakshya Bam and other organisers who appeared in livestreams and interviews. But look closely and the leader is hiding in plain sight. The leader is not a person. The leader is the internet meme.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_b2319eb8d7abec7ed5e12baf1a53e0a27cfd7a49ee15c058c47cdf2603a7fa8a.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20251122031128_b2319eb8d7abec7ed5e12baf1a53e0a27cfd7a49ee15c058c47cdf2603a7fa8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="662" height="1038" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> <figcaption>Aurafarming, 233K likes(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-meme-revolution" target="_blank">Memes today</a> are doing the quiet organising work that pamphlets and party cells once did. They offer identity, coordinate action, level power differences, and they do it without any central command. This is not because memes cause revolts. It is because memes are the connective tissue of a generation that grew up on the same visual language, the same jokes, the same references, and the same sense of shared digital childhood. Older generations did not share cultural symbols in the same way. Whether they read a certain comic book or watched the same cartoon depended on class, religion, caste, the country, or neighbourhood they grew up in. These divisions created stratified cultural memories.&nbsp; Today, an entire global cohort has been raised on the same visual media. The same YouTube creators. The same TikTok jokes. The same anime storylines. It is truly what McLuhan predicted the Global Village would be.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_136d009a48d8f8daee82ada1b220e0b0c8ec482b52dcd44e0942e2185a70421b.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20251122031128_136d009a48d8f8daee82ada1b220e0b0c8ec482b52dcd44e0942e2185a70421b" data-rendition-name="original" width="738" height="1012" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> <figcaption>Masked K P Oli, 63K likes(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  This has also created the perfect environment for <a href="https://observer.co.uk/news/international/article/revolution-20-frances-political-future-could-be-won-or-lost-by-bots-and-memes" target="_blank">memes to become political tools</a>. They are instantly recognisable, emotionally charged, and open for remixing. They allow young people to signal their values without stating them. They compress identity, anger, humour, and belonging into something that the rest of the world dismisses as unserious. The perfect example of a GenZ meme is the famous skull and crossbones in protest flags from Kathmandu to Manila to Mexico City. The Strawhat Pirates from the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20251006-one-piece-manga-revolt-morocco-indonesia-nepal-madagascar" target="_blank">anime One Piece</a>, is a show with over 1,000 episodes and a global fanbase that spans continents. One Piece follows Luffy, a justice driven pirate who travels across a world ruled by corrupt older elites who hoard power and suppress dissent.&nbsp; It is not hard to see why that story resonates with young people who feel locked out of political systems built by generations before them. I even printed stacks of my own flyer that explained memetic warfare using Minecraft visuals and handed them out in the crowd. Each one linked to a Telegram group with the Strawhat Pirates logo called MemePack HQ.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031144_1b12e920be6e312e1dc8768d318c1d1332e32694293b48984089867e7e525a27.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20251122031144_1b12e920be6e312e1dc8768d318c1d1332e32694293b48984089867e7e525a27" data-rendition-name="original" width="1100" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Meme Movements"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_08b720667a9ff36537e58992c8a8030b090900847de5eecd479bbb3fc727349d.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20251122031128_08b720667a9ff36537e58992c8a8030b090900847de5eecd479bbb3fc727349d" data-rendition-name="original" width="696" height="1004" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> <figcaption>Indonesia-Nepal comparison, 17.7K likes(Photo: Shristi Karki)</figcaption> </figure>  CULTURE EXPOSURE The Strawhat logo is not the only symbol making people protest. That would be like saying video games cause real world violence. Instead, the logo works like a modern version of mythology. It packs meaning for those who understand it. It represents loyalty, rebellion, chosen family, and resistance against unfair structures. It works as a rallying flag because it is already a shared story. And unlike older myths, it is accessible regardless of religion, caste, language, or national identity. Across Nepal, the Strawhat symbol has shown up on posters, badges, and protest outfits. But it is only one piece of a larger ecosystem of youth symbols. From Nepali meme pages remixing political speeches into ironic audios, to posts that place politicians into familiar pop culture formats, to clips that exaggerate the absurdity of daily life under slow moving governance, these are not just jokes. These are narrative units. Each post is a tiny story with its own punchline and its own political edge. Each TikTok video or meme functions like a religious shlok, a short piece of narrative that carries layers of meaning depending on who consumes it. Someone who has spent years studying a religion, in this case, inside GenZ online culture will recognise the symbols instantly. Someone outside this world will only see noise. This creates a literacy divide that is not about formal education but cultural exposure.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_2d09f075663678fe92d4e4dcc631ee6ad1aa8a99996f4c4a3649e4bf4d85132f.png" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20251122031128_2d09f075663678fe92d4e4dcc631ee6ad1aa8a99996f4c4a3649e4bf4d85132f" data-rendition-name="original" width="810" height="1208" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_d591c4dc857864cc833ffc6baece3f4c2798bbaf70b557f965463fc8f802900e.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20251122031128_d591c4dc857864cc833ffc6baece3f4c2798bbaf70b557f965463fc8f802900e" data-rendition-name="original" width="568" height="1124" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> </figure>  Protesting youth spent countless hours scrolling, interpreting, remixing, and responding to content. They built a shared symbolic universe across borders without planning to. This is why their political movements feel leaderless. They are not following individuals. They are following stories that define what justice looks like. Stories that define who the villain is. Stories that define how to respond when power is abused. In Nepal, memes about broken roads, delayed passports, political inheritance networks, and bureaucratic absurdity circulated for months before they became slogans or chants. By the time people took to the streets, the narrative groundwork had already been completed by thousands of posts liked and shared in private. The protests did not emerge from nowhere. They emerge from years of digital storytelling. Which is why the government’s ban on 26 digital platforms on 5 September became such a rallying force. The platforms that distribute these memes are not neutral, they are actually designed to maximise engagement because engagement translates to ad revenue. Right now, there is an engineer in Silicon Valley getting paid an enormous salary to find the perfect colour shade for a singular pixel on your screen so that you linger for fractions of a second longer.&nbsp; Algorithms reward content that trigger emotion. Sometimes the emotion is delight. Sometimes it is envy. Often it is anger. When rage becomes a business model, movements built inside these systems can feel powerful but unstable. The platforms democratise attention but centralise emotion. They allow anyone to broadcast, yet they shape the emotional tone of what becomes viral.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122031128_f22baab05910305ea435045824b25b796d5630715e2e17c3f3c0991e8371843c.png" data-media-id="editor_13" data-image-id="20251122031128_f22baab05910305ea435045824b25b796d5630715e2e17c3f3c0991e8371843c" data-rendition-name="original" width="974" height="1156" loading="lazy" alt="Meme movements"> </figure>  GenZ sits inside this tension. Empowered by the ability to speak without gatekeepers. Trapped inside systems that monetise their attention and amplify their frustration. This is why these leaderless online movements feel both organic and volatile. The algorithm filters which stories rise and which fade. It becomes an unintentional political actor. Not elected. Not accountable. Yet influencing millions. When the state is no longer the primary distributor of information, and when the algorithm becomes the new filter of reality, the public is left with a new responsibility. We have to learn to read memes the way past generations learned to read pamphlets or manifestos. A 15 second video can carry more political weight than a two hour speech. A symbol on cardboard might represent a decade of digital storytelling. Older generations often dismiss these images as childish. They are actually literacy markers of a new political class, one that does not wait for leaders. A political class fluent in remixing power, raised on global stories that feel more honest than the institutions they inherited. The youth did not create these platforms. They inherited them. But through memes they found a new language, one that lets them organise without permission. One that lets them build solidarity without needing meetings or manifestos. One that allows them to resist systems that feel too old to reform. It is time to take that seriously. Nobel Rimal is a researcher of digital culture and political communication who studied and participated in the meme driven mobilisations during the Nepal protests&nbsp;

Meme movements

It should not be surprising that negotiations here at the COP30 climate summit is stuck over a clause calling for phasing out fossil fuel in order to save the biosphere from climate breakdown. After all, the past two summits have been hosted by petro-states, and Brazil itself is now the largest producer of oil in Latin America. Talks on final resolution were also delayed by a fire that broke out on Wednesday in one of the tent venues. The climate conference has now been extended by a day.&nbsp; But the disagreements go much deeper. On the one hand, the main petroleum exporters don’t want any reduction in fossil fuel use, while developing countries do not want to phase out unless compensated for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/global-warning-bell-in-belem">switching to renewables</a>. In all this, the impact of climate breakdown on the Himalaya, the Alps and other mountain ranges has again fallen by the wayside. Mountains are accurate barometers of climate change, and the High Asia is the largest repository of fresh water stored as ice after the polar regions. “Mountains and mountain communities are the most impacted in terms of climate justice. Mountain communities have contributed to nature and water resources, yet they face the greatest hardships,” said Nepal’s delegate Maheshwar Dhakal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122061112_45e75506818eff60f9c496de760ef44ef668f366c5037a01a92b396638ca27ee.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251122061112_45e75506818eff60f9c496de760ef44ef668f366c5037a01a92b396638ca27ee" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Making molehills out of mountains at COP30 NT"> <figcaption>Nepal's Minister of Agriculture and Livestock delivering remarks at COP30 in Belém.</figcaption> </figure>  At COP28 in the UAE two years ago, Andorra and Kyrgyzstan pushed for mountain regions of the world to be high on the agenda. Nepal could have led this agenda, but it lacked diplomatic strategy and leadership. By COP29 in Baku last year, Nepal, Andorra, Bhutan and Kyrgyzstan raised the mountain agenda. But action on this is moving at a glacial pace. In Baku, President Ram Chandra Paudel called for international unity to tackle climate change and stressed the urgency of supporting mountain nations, which are bearing the brunt of the climate crisis despite historically contributing the least to global emissions. Now at COP30, mountain nations have collaborated to lobby for support and highlight the vulnerabilities of mountain regions. Nepal initiated the Sagarmatha Sambad, a call for action that emphasised the need for a dedicated fund to safeguard mountain ecosystems-though its launch in May, but foreign participation was low-level.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122061112_b24a1e3205033325dc04f2baed56fe161d418d362f3e43b861b46483e353341b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251122061112_b24a1e3205033325dc04f2baed56fe161d418d362f3e43b861b46483e353341b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Making molehills out of mountains at COP30 NT"> <figcaption>Meeting of mountain nations at COP30</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal has been branding Sagarmatha Sambad across negotiation rooms, meetings, and side events in Belém, but it does not look like it is getting much traction even though the Nepal delegation <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/cop-must-cop-to-its-failures">has been leading mountain countries</a>. Nepal’s negotiator Manjeet Dhakal says that after many rounds of interventions and support from other highland nations, the term ‘mountains’ has been included in the new Global Stocktake text. Himalaya, Andes and other mountain countries participated in the Presidency’s consultations on mountains and climate change which will pave the way for a special dialogue at the June 2026 session in Bonn.&nbsp; The COP Presidency has also requested the subsidiary bodies-SBSTA (science/technical advice) and SBI (implementation) to hold a formal dialogue on mountains and climate impact in Bonn. The dialogue may then decide whether to establish an annual dialogue within the COP process. SBSTA and SBI chairs must appoint two co-facilitators-one from a developing country and one from a developed country.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122061112_b02db373d3f60b0d1c2e3c547dd0663013147dac0b2bcf2774a45840824da9a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20251122061112_b02db373d3f60b0d1c2e3c547dd0663013147dac0b2bcf2774a45840824da9a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Making molehills out of mountains at COP30 NT"> </figure>  This is a first step toward potentially creating an annual mountain dialogue within the climate process — an important move for regions like the Himalayas. Kyrgyzstan has been particularly clear and vocal about its mountain priorities.&nbsp; Dinara Kemelova, Special Envoy of the President of Kyrgyzstan on the Mountain Agenda, said: “We have been promoting the creation of a Global Mountain Resilience Center in Kyrgyzstan — an international platform for science, early warning, data sharing, adaptation technologies, and training for mountain countries.” Kyrgyzstan has also demanded better access to climate finance, saying mountain countries remain severely under-funded.&nbsp; David Forné Massoni, Secretary of State for Energy Transition, Transport and Mobility of Andorra, said there was now “one mountain voice” sharing experiences and collaborating on policies that support mountain livelihoods and ecosystems. Nepal has been vocal on the mountain agenda, but it continues to lack clear priorities and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/climate-of-tragedy-and-apathy">strong action on the global platform</a>. Still, through the representation of mountain communities, Nepal is gaining visibility, which is positive step forward.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122061112_37b9fb5fd13eae18cde82494bbbdb238d32f0cfc9869f7f9b18f398a03d659b9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20251122061112_37b9fb5fd13eae18cde82494bbbdb238d32f0cfc9869f7f9b18f398a03d659b9" data-rendition-name="original" width="1433" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Making molehills out of mountains at COP30 NT"> </figure>  1.5°C OR 2.9°C? Mountain regions of the world are warming faster than the global average. The Himalaya, for example, is heating up 0.7°C more rapidly than elsewhere due to what is called ‘altitude effect’. Warming threatens mountain ecosystems, accelerates glacier melt that feed rivers, and increases catastrophic risks downstream. The <a href="https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/48854/EGR2025.pdf?sequence=3&amp;amp;isAllowed=y">UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2025</a> states that even if all countires meet their voluntary commitments, global temperatures are still projected to rise 2.3–2.5°C by 2050.&nbsp; The report concludes countries are dangerously overshooting the limit warming to 1.5°C. UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen said: “We are already off the target, but not out of time.”&nbsp; To limit overshoot to about 0.3°C with a 66% chance and return to 1.5°C by 2100, emissions must fall 26% by 2030 and 46% by 2035. For mountain nations like Nepal this means rising temperatures in high altitudes, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/hydropower-on-thin-ice">increasing GLOF (glacial lake outburst flood) risks</a>.&nbsp; Nepal has experienced more frequent and destructive GLOF events in recent years. Changing rainfall patterns have heavily impacted mountain communities. Water scarcity in some regions and unusually heavy rainfall in Manang and Mustang are signals of climate stress accelerating in mountain environments.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251122061112_8aa588e19fb927946066fd9e4f251fa9bcf463206008fb3469fcb237e6026555.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20251122061112_8aa588e19fb927946066fd9e4f251fa9bcf463206008fb3469fcb237e6026555" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Making molehills out of mountains at COP30 NT"> </figure>  Nepal on a <a href="https://www.germanwatch.org/en/cri">list of the 10 most at-risk countries</a> to climate impact in 2024. Bill Hare, Director of Climate Analytics, says keeping global temperature rise to 1.5°C, as promised in the Paris Agreement, is “almost certainly impossible.” This is due to the failure to cut emissions between 2020 and 2025 and because the climate system appears to be running hotter than expected. He notes that if emissions are cut by 50% by 2030, the climate response could still keep warming to around 1.5-1.6°C. If emissions are not halved by 2030 but strong action is still taken, peak warming could be limited to 1.6–1.7°C — an achievable ambition. Hare suggests deep methane reductions could significantly limit peak temperatures. He argues that 1.5°C must remain the benchmark because current warming is already causing devastating impacts globally.&nbsp; Keeping 1.5°C within reach minimises risks, losses and damage. The <a href="https://climateactiontracker.org/documents/1353/CAT_2025-11-%2019_Briefing_COP30_EnergyMethaneGoals.pdf">Climate Action Tracker </a>suggests three near-term actions to bend the warming curve below 2°C: Reducing methane, Tripling renewable energy, Doubling energy efficiency. The steps taken at COP30 will remain small and insufficient to meet these targets. This year, progress came mainly through interventions from Kyrgyzstan, Andorra, Nepal and Chile. The mountains are in crisis, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/reconstructing-the-china-india-climate-diplomacy">meaningful action</a> to address their vulnerabilities is still far behind what is urgently needed. This story was produced as part of an Internews Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Center for Peace and Security fellowship.

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