Kathmandu: Naming China, India and the US among the world’s biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, Nepal has sought climate compensation for the recent flash floods in Bhotkoshi that devastated several of its districts in Bagmati province.
At least 1,127 people have died and around 3,900 remain missing, according to various media reports. The calamity was triggered by a massive rock-and-ice avalanche near the Nepal-China border.
Nepal is also planning to send Prime Minister Balendra ‘Balen’ Shah to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to press its demand for the compensation.
Nepalese Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said, as mentioned in an India Today report, the three countries had a responsibility to compensate vulnerable nations bearing the consequences of emissions they contributed.
Kathmandu has also approached the UN-backed Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage for urgent financial assistance. It is also preparing to put up the disaster and its demand for climate justice at international forums, reports claim.
“We are shifting our diplomatic framework from aid to justice and compensation,” Khanal told Kantipur TV.
Balen Shah could travel to New York to attend the 81st UNGA, according to The Kathmandu Post. According to reports, Shah wants to personally highlight the Rasuwa floods and demand climate justice and compensation.
Earlier, it was planned that Khanal would represent Nepal at UNGA, which is scheduled to start on September 8.
Nepaese Foreign Minister Khanal said the Rasuwa disaster should not be treated merely as a humanitarian emergency that needs donations.
“This is not a matter of charity; it is a matter of legal and moral liability,” the foreign minister told Kantipur TV.
Instead of submitting three separate bilateral claims to India, China and the US, the Nepalese government has also said a formal request had been sent to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, reported The Kathmandu Post.
This fund was agreed upon at the COP27 climate summit in 2022 and operationalised at COP28. It is aimed to assist developing countries particularly vulnerable to climate change. Nepal’s letter was co-signed by Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Forests and Agriculture Minister Geeta Chaudhary, India Today reported.|
The country’s foreign ministry has also mobilised Nepali embassies to brief governments and donors about the country’s requirements. Besides flood relief, the country is seeking funds for resettlement and reconstruction and specialist aid, including tunnel-rescue teams, forensic experts and Bailey bridges.
