Published : 03 Sep 2026, 04:40 AM
Updated : 16 Sep 2026, 11:47 AM
Nepal has sought "climate-related compensation" from the United States, India and China over deadly flash floods in the Bhotkoshi River basin, naming the three as the world's major greenhouse gas emitters.
Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said post-disaster aid should be treated as moral liability, not charity, in an interview with Kantipur TV on Tuesday, carried by The Kathmandu Post.
The floods have killed at least 1,204 people and left more than 4,200 others missing after a glacial collapse sent water, rocks and debris down the Nepal-Tibet border, as per Reuters.
Khanal said Nepal contributes negligible emissions yet bears a disproportionate share of climate consequences, including rapid glacier melt and mountain disasters.
He said the country was shifting from seeking aid to seeking justice and compensation, naming China, the US and India, the world's top three emitters, as bearing historical responsibility.
He said Kathmandu would raise the issue at international forums, warning that vanishing Himalayan glaciers would compromise water security for over two billion people across South Asia who depend on rivers including the Ganges and the Trishuli.
According to him, Nepal's finance ministry has sent a formal compensation claim letter to its international partners.
India has emphasised climate equity and its low per capita emissions, arguing obligations should reflect countries' historical emissions and development needs, NDTV reports.
New Delhi maintains that Western nations, which industrialised first, should fund vulnerable countries' climate response.
Nepal has also approached the board of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage for urgent assistance following the Aug 26 flood, The Kathmandu Post said.
The fund, set up at COP27 and operationalised at COP28, received a letter jointly signed by Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Forests and Agriculture Minister Geeta Chaudhary, seeking urgent response to the disaster.
The full scale of the damage remains undetermined, though it already exceeds Nepal's response capacity, the letter said.
