The University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Himalaya program will host “Climate Change Science-Policy-Society Interface in the High Himalaya” on Aug. 28 at the Liu Institute for Global Issues. For assistant professor Pasang Yangjee Sherpa, the event is a chance to build community—both within and beyond Nepal. 

“People in the Himalayas are talking about the same issues that people in Vancouver are talking about,” she shares. “To have that conversation meaningfully, it has to happen at multiple levels: the local, the national and the international.”

The panel discussion will feature three high officials from Nepal: Hon. Sonam Gyalzen Sherpa (National Assembly Member and President of the Federation Strengthening and National Concern Committee), Hon. Tashi Lhamu Sherpa (Vice Chair of Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality), and Hon. Nuru Zangbu Sherpa (Ward Chair, Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality).

An integrated model

Pasang is from Pharak in northeastern Nepal, close to the Khumbu region of the high Himalaya. Khumbu is often recognized by researchers as the frontline of climate change. According to Pasang, glacial melting is the most visible effect of climate change on the region.

“This is happening at such a fast speed and in such intensity that the community is still grappling with all of it,” she says, adding that glacial melting leads to stronger winds, sediment changes, unusual wildlife migration and other environmental impacts. 

The pace of these changes is a surprise even to Pasang, who has spent over a decade studying climate change. In May 2025, she travelled to the Khumbu region’s five different wards or “administrative units” to consult locals as part of the Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality’s (KPLRM) creation of Local Adaptation Plans of Action (LAPA).

“With the local adaptation plan, the most important thing is the consultation with the community,” the assistant professor shares. “We make sure that we make an extra effort to include all members of the community.” 

The team also consulted governmental stakeholders. Their findings—which includes over a hundred recommendations—will be presented at the upcoming event. Rather than using a “one problem, one solution” framework, the report takes a more comprehensive, integrated approach.   

“When you’re thinking about adaptation, emphasize the wellbeing of everyone, not just humans, but more than human beings that call this place home,” Pasang explains. 

Back to living 

Discussions will also focus on what Pasang calls “climate-resilient Indigenous Sherpa lifeways.” The term refers to the self-sufficient ways of living in her grandparents’ and parents’ time—one that is now under threat. 

“If you think about everyday living, you have gas cylinders flying in from different places to provide fuel,” she explains. “You have different materials flown in from different urban centers to build houses.” 

In contrast, Pasang points to the environmentally friendly practice of yak herding, which has traditionally met the community’s needs for fuel, warmth and food. The yak dung can be used as fuel for energy and cooking; it is also used as farming fertilizer. 

“At the moment, families cannot continue to herd yak, mainly because it’s not a sustainable economic opportunity,” she shares. “And it’s also facing a lot of labour shortages because the younger members of the family want to leave and find better paying jobs.” 

As fewer people herd yak, Pasang fears that communities will become dependent on imported energy sources, leading to an increase in carbon footprint. Yaks are also under threat from the unprecedented spread of diseases that had previously only existed at lower attitudes. During Pasang’s visit to Khumbu, 17 yaks died in one week. 

“If we are serious about increasing resilience to climate change, it is through making sure that our Indigenous life ways are sustained and not replaced by commercial, tourism-based economy,” she adds. 

Alongside government recommendations, the LAPA presents descriptions of climate change effects and how locals can respond to them. For Pasang, this focus draws attention to how climate change is “being experienced, witnessed and felt” by Indigenous communities. 

“It’s important to see how we as a collective society are talking about it [and] how the high mountain communities are being supported or not supported,” she says. “[These responses] are indicative of how other communities will or will not be supported in the future.”

Pasang’s research has explored how to live amid dying—a question that first arose during the Covid-19 pandemic. Inspired by Indigenous scholars who focused on the act of living, she encourages a similar reflection emphasizing individual responsibility towards the next generation.    

“Instead of focusing on glaciers as dying, we are actually interested in the life that it has lived,” she shares. “Instead of being paralyzed by what we are seeing, it’s really important to recognize the life that we are living.” 

For more information on the event, see https://himalaya.arts.ubc.ca/events/event/local-adaptation-plans-of-action-and-nepali-government-officials-panel-discussion/. 

For more information on UBC’s Himalaya Program, see https://himalaya.arts.ubc.ca/events/.