Nepal seeks Loss and Damage funding after climate-linked flood. Will it get it?

Nepal is asking the international climate finance system to help pay for losses from the Bhotekoshi flood in Rasuwa. Experts have described the disaster as climate-related, while officials argue that Nepal is suffering heavily despite contributing little to global carbon emissions.

The government has written to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, which supports particularly vulnerable developing countries facing the effects of climate change. The request followed informal discussions with the fund’s board. Agriculture, Forests and Environment Minister Geeta Chaudhary and Finance Minister Dr Swarnim Wagle signed the letter, according to Maheshwar Dhakal, head of the ministry’s Climate Change Management Division.

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The flood and landslides in Bhotekoshi caused the kind of loss of life and property that we would classify as a purely climate-related disaster.

“The flood and landslides in Bhotekoshi caused the kind of loss of life and property that we would classify as a purely climate-related disaster,” Dhakal said. “Developed and industrialised countries have emitted large amounts of carbon, while Nepal’s contribution is negligible. We have suffered because of the actions of others rather than our own.”

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Developed and industrialised countries have emitted large amounts of carbon, while Nepal’s contribution is negligible. We have suffered because of the actions of others rather than our own.

World Bank figures cited in the report put average annual carbon dioxide emissions at 0.54 tonnes per person in Nepal. The figures compare with 9.3 tonnes in China, 2.17 tonnes in India and 13.6 tonnes in the United States. The global average was 4.67 tonnes per person in 2024.

Nepal has not named a specific sum in its letter to the fund’s co-chairs. Environmental economist Arjun Dhakal said the country could make a claim, but it would need to demonstrate the connection between the flood and climate change and provide a detailed assessment of the losses. Richard Sherman, a former co-chair and current board member, said Nepal could potentially receive around 3 billion rupees.

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Nepal can make such a claim and request support. But for further assistance, it must establish that the event was caused by climate change and carry out a detailed assessment of the losses.