Nepal's PM tells UN the Himalayan flood was 'a warning to the world'

Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah has told the United Nations that the catastrophic flood which devastated his country last month was “a warning to the world” that political leaders are failing to heed.

Addressing the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday night, Shah said the August disaster “was not just a local tragedy”, asking the gathering: “Have you really heard that warning?”

At least 1,453 people died when a torrent of mud, rock and water struck northern Nepal and the China-Tibet border on 26 August, triggered by a glacial collapse. According to Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, 5,500 people were still missing and 13,795 had been rescued.

Researchers from the World Weather Attribution group said in a report released last week that the disaster was not caused by a single extreme weather event but by a “compound crisis” shaped by long-term warming, glacier retreat, permafrost thaw and geological instability.

Shah said climate change was hurting people who were not responsible for the crisis, noting that Nepal contributed less than one-tenth of one per cent of heat-trapping gases. About 99 per cent of the country’s electricity comes from hydropower, and many workers were trapped in tunnels by the flooding.

He proposed a ‘Himalaya Climate Resilience Mechanism’ with Nepal and neighbours India and China to share satellite data and expertise, monitor glacial lakes and strengthen joint early warning systems.

Nepal has asked the UN’s loss and damage fund for $20m in aid, the maximum allowed — a tiny fraction of the government’s preliminary $5bn damage estimate. The fund, established in 2022 after Pakistan’s catastrophic floods, has yet to make its first disbursement. Earlier this week the United States pledged an additional $31m in new flood recovery support.