ABSTRACT
Latest climate assessments show that warming in the Himalayas has occurred at a rate and scale more intense than previously predicted. In this context, a French geographer and a native Sherpa anthropologist reflect on the climate change studies conducted with Sherpas from Khumbu and Pharak, also known as the Mount Everest region in Nepal. In this chapter we share climate change effects as experienced and observed by the residents between 2010 and 2011, followed by a discussion of studies on human dimensions of climate change in the region. We find that our collective decade-long climate change studies have not: 1) sufficiently equipped the researchers in adequately addressing climate change effects; 2) provided the communities with reliable and useful resources; and 3) recommended policymakers ethical pathways for a livable future. We identify two key reasons for this situation: the lack of meaningful engagement with local residents as co-producers of knowledge, and exclusion of existing long-term ethnographic climate change studies. We end with a call for an ethical approach that seeks intentional collaborations, informed by sound, inclusive research, for a just and sustainable future.
