Kathmandu has formally demanded climate compensation from the United States, China, and India, identifying these nations as the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters. The move follows devastating flash floods that ravaged northern and central Nepal, including Nuwakot and Rasuwa districts, on August 26, 2026. These catastrophic events have left over a thousand people dead and more than 4,000 still unaccounted for.
Nepal's Foreign Minister, Shisir Khanal, emphasized the country's minimal contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions while bearing a disproportionate burden of climate change impacts. Speaking to local media, Khanal highlighted rapid glacier melt and significant mountain disasters as direct consequences. “We are paying the ultimate price for a global crisis we did not create. The rapid melting of glaciers and these catastrophic mountain tsunamis are direct consequences of global climate change,” he stated.
Khanal articulated a shift in Nepal's diplomatic strategy, moving from seeking aid to demanding “justice and compensation.” He asserted, “This is not a matter of charity; it is a matter of legal and moral liability.” The foreign minister confirmed Nepal would raise this issue with “absolute firmness and clarity” at international forums, stressing that China, the US, and India carry a “historical responsibility to compensate vulnerable nations like Nepal.”
Beyond immediate relief, Khanal underscored the broader implications for “civilisational survival.” He warned that the disappearance of Himalayan glaciers would permanently compromise the water security of over two billion people in South Asia, who depend on rivers like the Ganges and the Trishuli. “We are advocating not just for Nepal, but for the survival of South Asian civilisation,” he added.
The flash floods, triggered by an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border, have caused extensive economic and non-economic losses. Finance Minister Swarnin Wagle and Forests and Agriculture Minister Geeta Chaudhary jointly penned a letter to the UN-backed Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, seeking urgent financial assistance. Nepal estimates needing USD 4 to 5 billion, approximately 10 percent of its economy, to reconstruct the affected areas.
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📰 Source: Siasat Gulf