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Nepal Minister Urges Wealthy Nations to Pay Climate Bill
Confirmed
In Short: Nepal's foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, urged wealthy nations to pay for climate disasters that disproportionately affect countries like Nepal, which are least responsible for the crisis, during an interview with AFP on Thursday.
Nepal's foreign minister, Shisir Khanal, urged wealthy nations to pay for climate disasters that disproportionately affect countries like Nepal, which are least responsible for the crisis, during an interview with AFP on Thursday.
Khanal emphasized that climate change is no longer theoretical, pointing to Nepal's recent catastrophe where a glacial collapse triggered a tsunami-like flood, resulting in over 1,400 deaths and 6,000 missing people.
The economic devastation from the flood runs into billions of dollars, with Nepal requesting $20 million from the UN's Loss and Damage fund, the maximum allowed, but still a fraction of what is needed.
Khanal highlighted Nepal's negligible contribution to global climate change, noting that the country contributes just 0.1 percent of global greenhouse gases and generates over 90 percent of its electricity from hydropower.
He called for more international assistance to develop advanced monitoring systems to track glacial melt and provide early warnings, stressing that Nepal should not bear the burden alone.
Khanal expressed optimism about the support received from Nepal's neighbors and the diaspora, and noted productive meetings in New York, including a $31 million flood recovery support announcement from the United States.
The UN's Loss and Damage fund, established in 2022, remains underfunded and has yet to make its first disbursement, with Nepal seen as a key test case.
G7 nations informally promised support at a meeting on Wednesday, and Britain has also pledged assistance, according to Khanal.
What this adds
The G7's informal promise of support and Britain's pledge add to the growing international response to Nepal's climate disaster.
What's confirmed
- Wealthy nations must pay for climate disasters that devastate countries that are least responsible for the crisis, yet bear its brunt, Nepal's foreign minister told AFP on Thursday.
- "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 in an interview at Nepal's permanent mission, during the United Nation's high-level week.
- Nepal has asked the UN's Loss and Damage fund for $20 million, the maximum allowed, but a tiny fraction of what it needs.
- Khanal said, however, he had been encouraged by cash assistance and rescue teams sent by Nepal's neighbors, as well as the Nepalese diaspora who had sent money directly to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.
- Nepal now needs more such assistance from the world to develop more complex systems involving satellites to monitor the rate of glacial melt and provide advance warnings, he said.
- The Himalayan nation suffered one of the worst catastrophes in its history late last month when a tsunami-like flood, triggered by a high-altitude glacial mountain collapse along the Nepal-China border, cut a swathe of destruction.
- More than 1,400 people died, 6,000 are still missing, and the economic devastation runs in the billions of dollars.
- Nepal has contributed negligibly to the breakdown of the global climate system, Khanal added.
- "So why should we, who have not had any contribution to this issue, only bear the burden?" Khanal said his meetings in New York had been productive, with the United States announcing $31 million in new flood recovery support.
- The fund, established in 2022 in the aftermath of catastrophic floods in Pakistan, has yet to make even its first disbursement and is dramatically underfunded -- and observers see Nepal as a key test.
What's still developing
- Nothing material beyond the confirmed record.