This is an update to the article first published on 5 August.
With the 2026 UIAA General Assembly taking place in Kathmandu, the UIAA Mountain Protection Commission and the Climate Change Taskforce felt it was important to set up a “give-back scheme” for all delegates traveling to Nepal. This is to offer an optional alternative to paying for CO2 offsetting to an airline company and rather giving the money to a locally rooted project. The idea being that if 100 delegates each give CHF 20, then CHF 2,000 can go to the selected project and sustainably support climbing and mountaineering in Nepal.
Each delegate can choose whether to donate or not.
And each delegate can choose what amount to donate to the cause. Airline companies give an estimate of the price necessary to offset the purchased flights. This could act as guidance.
Given the recent floods and difficulties that hit Nepal, there has been a re-orientation in the selected organisation for the give back scheme, and all collected money will now go to: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) https://www.ifrc.org/
- The IFRC is the world’s largest humanitarian network, not a state-run organization, based in Switzerland with a secretariat that supports local Red Cross and Red Crescent action in more than 191 countries, bringing together more than 18 million volunteers for the good of humanity. In Nepal they operate through the Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS).
- They have launched a massive 24-month, CHF 25 million emergency appeal to channel global institutional funding directly to the Nepal Red Cross Society. They are built to hold and systematically spend funds over a long period. And, in late September, Red Cross funds will transition from emergency first-aid kits to winterized transitional housing, sanitation infrastructure, and disease prevention.
- The IFRC and Nepal Red Cross Society (NRCS) are providing emergency shelter, health care, clean water and sanitation, and mental health and psychosocial support. In Nuwakot, for example, the IFRC, together with NRCS, has installed water tanks and a water pump, helping restore access to safe drinking water for around 2,000 people.
