Flood-ravaged Nepal calls for climate justice
Nepal Seeks Climate Justice After Deadly Glacier-Triggered Floods
Qinilo.com – Nepal is seeking international financial support after catastrophic flooding devastated communities in the country’s north, highlighting the growing burden faced by nations with low greenhouse gas emissions but high exposure to climate-driven disasters.
The floods, triggered by a melting glacier on 26 August, struck parts of Rasuwa, Nuwakot and Dhading. Around 84,270 Nepalis were affected as roads, schools, electricity networks and water infrastructure suffered extensive damage. Search and rescue operations remain under way, with 5,132 people still missing, including 587 foreign nationals.
The scale of the emergency has prompted Nepal to turn to the UN Loss and Damage Fund, created in 2022 to assist developing countries particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of climate change. Its request is being considered as authorities and humanitarian partners continue efforts to reach isolated survivors.
A crisis far beyond Nepal’s emissions footprint
Lila Pieters Yahia, the UN Resident Coordinator for Nepal, said the disaster demonstrates why climate-vulnerable countries need accessible support when they face destruction they did little to cause.
“The devastation Nepal has experienced is an extraordinary, stark illustration of the losses and damages that climate-vulnerable countries are increasingly facing,”
Speaking from Kathmandu, she stressed that Nepal has contributed only a small share of global greenhouse gas emissions while enduring severe human and economic impacts linked to a changing climate. The country’s appeal is therefore about more than immediate relief: it also raises the wider question of how the international climate system responds when vulnerable communities face sudden, overwhelming losses.
“Countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change need adequate and accessible support to respond to loss and damages they did little to cause.”
Climate justice, in this context, concerns the unequal relationship between responsibility for emissions and exposure to their consequences. For communities hit by floods, the discussion is not abstract. It concerns whether families can find shelter, restore access to safe water, receive medical care and begin rebuilding after homes and livelihoods have been swept away.
Communities cut off as rescue efforts continue
During a weekend visit to some of the hardest-hit areas, Ms. Yahia saw the extent of the destruction left behind by the floods. Entire settlements had been washed away, while riverbanks had shifted dramatically. Families were still looking for missing relatives, and some survivors had watched loved ones being carried away by waves reaching 20 metres in height.
Damaged transport links have complicated the humanitarian response. Roads are essential not only for moving rescue teams and relief supplies, but also for reconnecting villages with health services, markets and other basic support. The destruction of power and water systems adds further pressure on displaced people and on communities attempting to recover.
Humanitarian agencies and local partners have begun reaching people in urgent need, although access to the most vulnerable locations remains difficult. In a first for an emergency operation in Nepal, the World Food Programme used cargo drones to bring food to communities cut off by the flooding. The approach illustrates how disrupted terrain and transport routes can require alternative ways of delivering life-saving assistance.
Funding gap threatens recovery efforts
The UN and the Government of Nepal launched a $49.6 million flash appeal on Friday to provide urgent assistance to 84,000 people through the end of December. The appeal includes support for shelter, health care and cash assistance, all of which are critical for families dealing with immediate displacement and loss.
By Wednesday, $22 million had been received, leaving the response well short of the amount sought. The gap comes as needs extend beyond food and temporary accommodation. Water systems must be restored, mobile clinics are needed for pregnant women, and mental health services are required for people coping with bereavement, displacement and the trauma of the disaster.
Cash support can help affected households meet urgent needs in ways that fit their own circumstances, while health services are particularly important where regular facilities have been damaged or remain hard to reach. Restoring water infrastructure is also central to protecting public health after floods, when normal access to safe water can be disrupted for large numbers of people.
Nepal’s appeal places the immediate emergency within a broader international debate over climate finance. The Loss and Damage Fund was established to recognize that some climate impacts cannot be avoided through adaptation alone. When homes, public infrastructure and lives are lost, vulnerable countries may require support to respond to consequences that are already unfolding.
For Nepal, the priority remains finding missing people, assisting survivors and restoring essential services. Yet the destruction in the northern regions has also become a stark reminder that climate-related disasters can overwhelm communities quickly, especially where changing conditions affect mountain environments and vital infrastructure.
As the search continues and humanitarian teams work to reach inaccessible areas, the funding response will shape how quickly affected families can receive the shelter, health care, clean water and financial help needed in the months ahead.
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