Nepal formally requests UN climate fund support following devastating floods

Kathmandu has formally requested the UN-backed Fund for responding to Loss and Damage to “respond rapidly, directly and effectively” amid the country’s worst natural disaster in decades.

In a letter signed by Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Environment Minister Gita Chaudhary, officials said early action by the entity would signal a capability to respond “with humanity, flexibility and solidarity when climate-vulnerable countries face loss and damage beyond their capacity to address alone”.

The August 26 tsunami-like flooding – triggered by a rock-ice avalanche along the Nepal-China border – has killed more than 1,300 people, with roughly 5,000 others still missing. On Friday, the Nepal Army rescued two local workers trapped inside a hydropower tunnel for nine days, while a Chinese national was pulled out the following day.

“What Nepal is doing by submitting the request is genuine and right,” Raju Pandit Chhetri, executive director of the environmental non-profit Prakriti Resources Centre, told This Week in Asia. “The support that Nepal might get may be minuscule, but it will send a significant message symbolically and set a precedent for other countries.”