AIT lead by RRC.AP and IUCN Asia Regional Office (IUCN ARO), Bangkok, Thailand are jointly working to establish an alliance between the countries of the Himalayan region and the countries of the Mekong Region, named “the HIMEK”, which will be a regional cooperation framework for promoting efforts on the climate change mitigation and adaptation to reduce the effects of the climate change in the region with special focus on emission reduction of black carbon particles and forest landscape restoration. An Inception meeting on the HIMEK was organized at IUCN ARO on 18 March 2018. The meeting was attended by the representatives from IUCN, RRC.AP, RECOFTC, FAO, and Environment and Health Foundation (India). It discussed issues pertaining to the impacts of black carbon particles on the Himalaya region and the need for forest land restoration to reduce impacts of climate change on the region. It also discussed options for operationalization of the HIMEK initiative, promotion during international events, and funding opportunities.