UN climate fund provisionally earmarks $20 million for flood-hit Nepal

• UN climate fund provisionally earmarks US$20 million for Nepal’s flood recovery

• Nepal must submit a funding application for consideration at the board’s December meeting

• Climate finance advocates welcome the decision but question the scale of support against multibillion-dollar losses

The UN’s Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) has provisionally set aside US$20 million for Nepal following devastating floods in August, offering limited financial support as the country faces a multibillion-dollar recovery bill.

The decision was taken at an extraordinary meeting of the fund’s board on Thursday. Nepal will still have to submit a funding application, which the board is expected to consider at its next meeting in December.

Nepal’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Environment described the decision as approval of assistance worth approximately NPR 3 billion for relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction in affected communities.

The 26 August disaster struck the Bhotekoshi–Trishuli region, triggering floods and landslides that caused extensive destruction. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, more than 1,400 people were killed and over 5,000 remained unaccounted for. Preliminary estimates indicated that around 60,000 people across 15,000 households were directly affected.

Assessments cited in the reports put economic losses and damage at between US$2.56 billion and US$2.69 billion, with recovery and reconstruction requirements estimated at US$4.71 billion. The proposed funding would therefore meet less than 1 per cent of the estimated losses.

Agriculture, Forests and Environment Minister Gita Chaudhary and Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle had jointly written to the fund on 31 August, requesting urgent assistance. Several rounds of consultations involving representatives of developed and developing countries followed.

Raju Pandit Chhetri, lead climate finance negotiator for the least-developed countries at the UN climate negotiations, welcomed the decision as evidence that international cooperation could deliver a timely response to vulnerable countries.

He said the devastation could not be assessed through financial losses alone, adding that the agreement demonstrated the value of effective multilateral action.

However, Harjeet Singh of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation questioned the size of the response, saying Nepal required billions of dollars to rebuild but had been offered assistance only in millions.

Singh also criticised developed countries for insisting that the decision should neither establish a precedent nor determine the fund’s longer-term approach.

Governments agreed to establish the FRLD at the 2022 UN climate conference in Egypt to support vulnerable developing countries facing irreversible climate impacts. Its 26-member board includes representatives of countries party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement.

The proposed assistance is intended to support recovery in the Bhotekoshi–Trishuli corridor. Details of disbursement, implementation and the allocation of money have yet to be announced.

With agency inputs