Global Community, Local Impact: The Nepali Diaspora for Climate Action
Building on the momentum of the 2024 Nepali Professionals Summit in Berlin (co-hosted by GIZ and the Embassy of Nepal), the recently founded diaspora organisation Nepali Roots e.V. invited professional members of the Nepali diaspora to Munich to advance diaspora engagement for climate action and transnational cooperation.
With over 75 professionals and students in attendance, the Nepali Roots Summit 2025 laid the groundwork to empower Nepali professionals in Germany through dialogue, mentorship, and visibility. The Summit was held under the theme “Where Ideas Meet Actions and the Community Meets Opportunities”, focusing on entry points for diaspora engagement for the benefit of Nepal.
In his opening statement, Nepal´s Ambassador to Germany, Dr Shail Rupakheti, commended the event´s focus on necessary climate action. Saurav Koirala, advisor of the GIZ programme “Shaping development-oriented migration” (MEG), highlighted the diaspora´s immense potential for knowledge transfer and stressed its vital role as a bridge between Nepal and countries of destination.
In his keynote speech, climate and atmospheric scientist, Dr Maheswar Rupakheti, contextualised Nepal´s role: despite only causing 0.1 percent of global emissions, the Himalayan country is among the nations most affected by climate change and the resulting natural disasters such as floodings. His appeal towards the diaspora to use its skills and networks to contributes to Nepal´s climate resilience set the tone for the following discussions.
The diaspora must move from empathy to action – turning knowledge into scalable solutions.
Further potential for the diaspora to contribute to Nepal´s climate action was identified in Dr Yagya Adhikari´s input “Roots Rising: How the diaspora can save the Himalayas”, underlining the value of diaspora networks for the purposes of reforestation, development of climate-smart agriculture and renewable energy projects. Highlights from the Summit included group work sessions discussing among other topics the growing electric vehicle sector and sustainable eco-tourism entrepreneurship opportunities in Nepal.
The first edition of the Nepali Roots Summit was well received both within the Nepali diaspora in Germany and in national Nepali media, with several news outlets covering the conference. Nepali Roots has already confirmed that 2026 will see a second edition of the Summit:
We will host a similar event next year, and our aim is to make it even bigger, stronger, and more impactful. This is only the beginning, and together, we will go much further.Some impressions of the Nepali Roots Summit 2025:
Further information on the offers available to the Nepali diaspora can be found below.