Nepal tells UN climate burden falls on vulnerable nations

Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah has called for grant-based international support at the United Nations General Assembly to help the Himalayan nation recover ⁠from the glacier flood that killed at least 1,450 people.

Mr Shah said Nepal's recovery and reconstruction needs were estimated at about 10% of gross domestic product following the flood, arguing that vulnerable countries should not be forced to take on additional debt to rebuild after catastrophic climate events.

"When a climate-driven ‌disaster destroys infrastructure of ⁠a poor country, the answer cannot simply be another mega loan or a patchwork of small grants," Mr Shah said.

"We need adequate grant-based support from the world," he added.

He urged closer cooperation between Nepal, India and China on climate resilience, calling for an urgent ‌Himalayan mechanism to share satellite data, monitor glacial lakes, strengthen early-warning systems and coordinate disaster responses across borders.

The Nepali ⁠leader said the flood, which he described as a warning ‌of the growing risks posed by climate change, had swept away ⁠roads, bridges, ‌schools, homes and livelihoods, interrupting Nepal's development progress.

"What we're trying to convey to the world is this: these issues of climate change are not theoretical anymore," Minister of Foreign Affairs Shisir Khanal said during the United Nations’ high-level week.

"These are becoming real, and the frequency of such disasters are likely to happen more often over the next few years as the temperature rises, as the glaciers melt," he said.

Nepal has contributed negligibly to the breakdown of the global climate system, Mr Khanal added.

More than 90% of Nepals electricity comes from hydropower, over 70% of new cars sold are electric and the nation contributes just 0.1% of global greenhouse gases.

Scientists from the World Weather Attribution have described the event as a "compound crisis" in which local geological instability combined with long-term warming contributed to glacier retreat and permafrost thaw.

The collapse of a glacier near the border between Nepal and China's Tibet Autonomous Region in late August triggered landslides and ⁠a flash flood that tore through valleys downstream.

Weeks later, search and recovery ⁠operations were still under way, with more than 6,000 people remaining missing in the area. Mr Shah said many of them may never be found.

The World Bank earlier this week made up to $170 million (€149m) available in emergency financing to help Nepal respond to the disaster and ‌begin recovery efforts.