02/09/2026
Nepal is paying a price for a climate crisis it did not create. To the international community, I want to say this very clearly.
On 26 August, Nepal witnessed a devastating flood in the Himalayan region of Rasuwa. I also briefly raised this issue in the Nepali Parliament on the same day. I am extending the same message here: A massive glacier and ice-rock collapse unleashed torrents of water, mud, and debris through the Bhote Koshi river system. Thousands of lives were lost. Villages disappeared. Towns Swept away. Roads, bridges, telecommunication, hydropower infrastructure and border facilities were destroyed. Thousands of families have been affected, and the full scale of the economic loss is still being assessed.
This was not simply a local disaster. It is a warning from the Himalaya to the world.
The Hindu Kush Himalaya is warming rapidly. International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, ICIMOD reported this year that the rate of glacier ice loss in the region has doubled since 2000. As glaciers retreat and mountain systems become highly unstable, the risks of glacial lake outburst floods, ice avalanches, landslides and cascading floods are increasing.
And here lies the fundamental question of climate justice: Who caused this climate crisis, and who is paying for its consequences?
Nepal contributes only around 0.027% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet our people are living on the frontline of a rapidly changing climate.
Nepal did not industrialize the world. Nepal did not build its prosperity on decades of fossil fuel intensive development.
Yet Nepal's mountains are melting, its rivers are becoming more dangerous, and its communities are losing lives, homes, livelihoods and critical infrastructure.
We are not asking the international community for charity. We are asking for climate justice.
We need predictable and accessible climate finance for adaptation: for early warning systems, glacier monitoring, resilient infrastructure and the protection of vulnerable mountain communities.
And when climate disasters go beyond what adaptation can prevent, we need the Loss and Damage Fund to work for countries like Nepal, not merely as a promise on paper, but as accessible, adequate and timely financial support.
The international community has already recognized the scale of the challenge. COP29 agreed on a new climate finance goal of at least USD300 billion annually by 2035, while calling for efforts to scale finance for developing countries toward US$1.3 trillion annually.
Now is the time to turn those commitments into action!
The Himalaya is not only Nepal's mountain range. It is a critical climate and water system for hundreds of millions of people across Asia.When the Himalaya suffers, the world will eventually feel the consequences.
Nepal has contributed almost nothing to creating this crisis, but Nepal is standing on its frontline. So I appeal to governments, international institutions, climate finance mechanisms and citizens across the world: Please do not wait for another catastrophe.
Stand with Nepal. Stand for climate justice.
And stand with the prin: “those most responsible must do more for those most vulnerable”, a reality!
