Nepal has asked the United Nations for $20m in compensation after floods triggered by a mountain-glacier collapse killed more than 1,300 people and left more than 5,000 missing. The August 26 torrent of water and mud struck Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot regions and China’s Tibet region.
Nepal’s finance and environment ministries submitted the request to the UN’s Loss and Damage Fund, saying the country is suffering severe climate impacts despite contributing less than 0.1 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
Why Nepal is making the claim
The disaster followed the collapse of part of a mountain glacier, which sent water and mud into populated areas. Scientists cited in the report link the catastrophe to the effects of climate change. Nepal’s location in the Himalayas leaves it exposed to severe weather and glacial loss, even as most of its electricity comes from renewable energy.
Across the Hindu Kush Himalaya range, glaciers lost ice 65 percent faster between 2011 and 2020 than in the previous decade. The United Nations said in 2023 that Nepal’s glaciers had lost close to one-third of their ice volume in roughly three decades because of global warming.
Key points
- Nepal’s preliminary estimate puts property, housing and infrastructure losses at about $2.56bn.
- The UN Loss and Damage Fund was established in 2022 under the framework of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
- The fund faces a reported $2.8bn gap as it prepares to approve its first climate-recovery projects.
What climate justice could mean
Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said support should be viewed as climate justice rather than aid or charity. President Ramchandra Paudel made a similar appeal, urging the international community to take concrete steps for ecologically vulnerable countries. For additional context, see “Climate crisis causes £40bn damage to Caribbean islands from 2000 to 2024”.
Climate and development professor Joyeeta Gupta said Nepal has a basis for claiming climate justice because it has very low emissions while bearing substantial climate risks. She also said securing compensation would be difficult: international climate treaties shifted away from the language of compensation toward assistance for developing countries.
A July 2025 advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice said states have binding duties under international law to prevent significant climate harm and that breaches can require full reparations, including financial compensation. The opinion is not legally binding, but Gupta said it could support Nepal’s appeal.
The domestic pressure behind the appeal
Nepal’s climate activists say disaster response is diverting money from healthcare, education and development. They have called for more contributions to the Loss and Damage Fund and said payments should reach vulnerable communities as compensation rather than loans.
Activists have also urged Nepal to make climate resilience part of its own development decisions. One campaigner said international investment that does not include sustainability would leave the country exposed to further damage. A related part of this story is covered in “Search operations enter day 12 after floods hit China and Nepal”.
What happens next
Prime Minister Balendra Shah is scheduled to travel to New York on September 22 and address the 81st United Nations General Assembly on September 24, where Nepal’s climate-justice appeal is expected to be a key part of his address.
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