Kathmandu, Nepal | 24 April 2026
Photo: Jitendra Raj Bajracharya/ICIMOD.
The European Union-funded Promoting Anticipatory Actions to Address Climate and Environmental Risks for Community Transformation (PROAACT) initiative was officially launched this week in Kathmandu, Nepal, bringing together government representatives, regional partners, and civil society organizations from Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.
The inception meeting marks the start of a regional effort to strengthen community resilience to climate and environmental risks while promoting social cohesion and stability across South Asia. The meeting was followed by a Training of Trainers workshop from 23–24 April 2026, aimed at equipping local actors with the tools and methodologies to implement participatory, locally led anticipatory action approaches for peace and stability.
During the launch event, Mr. Saroj Kumar Chaudhary, Deputy Director General at the Department of Environment under the Ministry of Forest and Environment, Nepal noted that: “the climate crisis is accelerating and our old ways of working are no longer sufficient. It is a crisis of inequality. Anticipatory action, therefore, is an act of justice. Let us make PROAACT a model for how we face an uncertain future with courage, preparedness, and solidarity.”
Ms. Geertrui Louwagie, Deputy Head of Cooperation and Team Leader at the Delegation of the European Union to Nepal added that: “in the face of the values and principles that we apply under our Global Gateway strategy, it is even more important that we keep supporting initiatives like PROAACT– in which several strands that are of critical importance for us as humans, converge.”
The event also convened representatives from eight local civil society organizations selected through an open call for proposals to implement activities in identified climate vulnerability hotspots across the three target countries. These organizations will play a central role in facilitating community-level action and fostering locally driven solutions.
South Asia faces increasing challenges from compounding climate variability, environmental degradation, and socio-ecological pressures affecting livelihoods, social cohesion, and ecosystem stability. PROAACT responds to these challenges by strengthening anticipatory capacity and fostering collaboration at local, national and regional levels.
The initiative will focus on priority areas identified through a scoping study, including Sindhupalchowk, Dhading, and Rolpa in Nepal; Satkhira, Nawabganj, and Shariatpur in Bangladesh; and Astore and Swat in Pakistan.
About PROAACT
The PROAACT initiative is part of the broader partnership between the European Union and UNEP on Climate, Environment and Peace, established in 2017. This partnership aims to strengthen national and regional capacities to identify and address climate- and environment-related risks, and to support the implementation of effective risk reduction and response measures. By bringing together environmental, development and peacebuilding expertise, the partnership supports integrated approaches that address the complex interlinkages between climate change, environmental degradation and stability.
PROAACT will be implemented from 2025 to 2027, with a focus on testing innovative, participatory, and peace-oriented locally led approaches. Lessons learned will inform the scaling and replication of solutions within and across the three target countries, as additional resources are mobilised.
Partnership and collaboration
PROAACT is implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme in partnership with the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) as the regional implementing partner for South Asia, with financial support from the European Union.
The initiative is carried out in close coordination with the Delegation of the European Union to Nepal, the Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh, and the Delegation of the European Union to Pakistan.
PROAACT is further implemented in close cooperation and alignment with the governments of the three target countries, including the Ministry of Forests and Environment (Nepal), the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (Bangladesh), and the Ministry of Climate Change and Environmental Coordination (Pakistan).