Nepal cabinet holds meeting on Mount Everest

Nepalese ministers have held a cabinet meeting on Mount Everest to raise awareness of the effects of climate change.

Ministers hope the world's highest cabinet meeting will attract the same attention as a similar event held underwater in the Maldives in October.

The meeting comes ahead of next week's climate summit in Copenhagen.

Scientific studies show temperatures are rising faster in the Himalayas than the rest of South Asia.

It has led to reduced snowfall and caused glaciers to melt.

Before Friday's meeting, teams ferried in medical equipment, oxygen canisters, soldiers and journalists to Kalipatar - a plateau at 5,200m (17,000ft) next to Everest's base camp.

Resolution endorsed

Then the entire cabinet of 21 ministers including the prime minister arrived in Kalipatar by helicopter.

During their half-hour meeting, the ministers - some wearing oxygen masks - endorsed a resolution on climate change. They then left by helicopter.

Environment Minister Thakur Prasad Sharma shrugged off criticism that the meeting was just a costly publicity stunt.

"The fact is that the glaciers are melting due to global warming. That has become a critical issue and we want to draw global attention to it," Mr Sharma told the AFP news agency.

The trip was funded by a group of Nepalese private organisations, many of them from the tourist sector.

Mount Everest is the highest point on earth, with a summit 29,035 ft (8,850 m) above sea level.