First Climate Meeting Of Himalayan Nations Kicks Off In Kathmandu - AFP

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South Asian environment officials have gathered in Kathmandu for the conference, aimed at highlighting the problems facing the region ahead of a key climate change summit in Copenhagen in December.

Environmental campaigners refer to the Himalayas as the "third pole" and say the melting glaciers are the biggest potential contributors to rising sea levels after the north and south poles.

But this is the first time Himalayan governments have come together to lobby for ambitious emission reduction targets at the Copenhagen summit, which aims to seal a new international climate change accord.

Nepalese lawmaker Lucky Sherpa told the conference mountain communities in the Himalayan nation were already feeling the effects of climate change, with cattle and sheep herders having to seek grazing at higher altitudes. Climate change poses the highest threat to those indigenous people who have contributed the least to carbon emissions," she said, calling for greater assistance for affected mountain communities.

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