UN Loss and Damage Fund Fails in Nepal's Climate Disaster

Developing countries, which face the most severe consequences of the global climate crisis and environmental destruction, face bureaucratic obstacles from the United Nations (UN). The huge mud and flood "tsunami" that occurred in the Rasuwa region of Nepal, in which more than 1,400 people lost their lives and 6 thousand people disappeared, showed that the Loss and Damage Fund, established within the UN in 2022, failed in its first big test. According to an expert analysis published in the journal Nature, Nepal's massive reconstruction demand of $5 billion (10% of its national income), which has a share of only 0.01% of global carbon emissions, remained unanswered.

A MONTH HAS PASSED AND NOT A SINGLE CENT OF HELP HAS BEEN MADE

Although the Nepal government, which made an official application immediately after the disaster, was promised by UN officials that it would be "approached with urgency and compassion", no concrete financial steps have been taken even though a month has passed.

Experts reported that the UN Loss and Damage Fund does not have "fast access channels" to transfer money quickly in cases of urgent humanitarian crises, applications are squeezed into complex annual calendars, and this means leaving disaster victims to their fate.

"EVIDENCE OF CLIMATE RELATIONSHIP" REQUIREMENT HIT POOR COUNTRIES

The most critical scientific point highlighted in the analysis was the condition of "data proving the direct connection of extreme weather events with the climate crisis" required by the UN for funding transfer.

Researchers emphasize that it may take years to establish a mathematical connection between complex and gradual natural events such as ice melts, avalanches and mudslides in the Himalayas and the climate crisis; He noted that requesting this evidence from countries such as Nepal, which do not have advanced data and modeling infrastructure, is against climate justice.

"CLIMATE JUSTICE CANNOT WAIT FOR PERFECT EVIDENCE"

Environmental scientists who have been studying the Himalayas for more than 20 years remind us that a disaster can develop in minutes, while science can take years to unravel causal links.

Experts call for urgent reform of the UN Loss and Damage Fund; He emphasizes that rapid fund transfer should be made for urgent humanitarian aid without bureaucracy, that the lack of accurate climate data cannot be considered as a reason for aid rejection, and that poor countries should not be pushed into high-interest debt.