Nepal seeks climate justice after deadly floods, puts mountain risks on agenda

Nepal minister Gita Chaudhary has urged stronger action on climate and environmental issues after the deadly floods. She said Nepal must press for climate justice and put mountain risks firmly on the global agenda.

In Short

• Gita Chaudhary urged treating environment concerns as a foremost national priority
• She linked the recent disaster to worsening climate crisis impacts
• Around 1,000 people died and nearly 4,000 people remain missing

Nepal's Forestry and Environment Minister Gita Chaudhary has called for climate change and environmental issues to be treated as a top national priority, according to local media reports on Tuesday. She also said Nepal must strongly press its rights and claims on climate justice at international forums.

Her remarks came days after devastating flash floods killed around 1,000 people in Nepal and left nearly 4,000 missing. The floods, triggered by a collapse or avalanche of ice and rock near the Nepal-Tibet border, devastated towns and villages in northern and central Nepal.

Speaking at a consultation with experts at the ministry before leaving to attend a ministerial conference of the least developed countries, Chaudhary said Nepal must work to place mountain issues on the global agenda. The discussions also covered domestic and international efforts to seek compensation for the severe damage caused by the recent floods, Nepal News reported.

"Unless we can present this agenda as our right and our claim, we cannot give it the priority it deserves," Chaudhary was quoted as saying by the Onlinekhabar news portal. Noting that Nepal is a mountainous country and home to Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, she stressed the need for the country to lead the mountain agenda and establish it globally.

Chaudhary said it would be difficult to give priority at the national level to the damage and problems caused by the climate crisis unless climate justice was established as a right before the international community. She said climate change should not be confined to one or two government programmes or international conferences, and called for cooperation among civil society, experts, the media and other stakeholders, saying government efforts alone would not be enough to address climate and environmental challenges.

The minister's remarks linked Nepal's recent flood disaster with the wider climate crisis, while underlining the need for both stronger national action and a more forceful push for climate justice and mountain issues at the global level.

With PTI Inputs

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