News
Nepal isn’t the only disaster-struck country waiting for money from the global climate Loss and Damage Fund
Nepal isn’t the only disaster struck country waiting for money from the global climate Loss and Damage Fund. Originally published by The Conversation.
By Tarun Gopalakrishnan, Research Fellow in the Climate Policy Lab, The Fletcher School, Tufts University · 2026-09-22T20:21:44.807Z
A rush of mud, rock and water inundated the town of Trishuli, Nepal, on Aug. 26, 2026, after a glacier collapsed. Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images As it faces the enormous task of rebuilding from a deadly flood https://www.npr.org/2026/09/07/nx s1 5960357/nepal floods questions over chinas reporting that tore through communities https://kathmandupost.com/money/2026/09/15/private sector bears bulk of bhotekoshi flood losses in the Himalayas, Nepal is seeking compensation from the international Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage – meaning from countries that are major contributors to climate change, which it blames for the disaster. Nepal Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal said it was not merely a request for aid or charity but a demand for justice https://kathmandupost.com/interviews/2026/09/01/this is not standard flooding it is a himalayan tsunami nepal s foreign minister shishir khanal and “legal and moral liability.” “Nepal’s greenhouse gas emissions are virtually negligible. Yet, we are paying the ultimate price for a global crisis we did not create,” Khanal told the Kathmandu Post. “The rapid melting of glaciers https://www.worldweatherattribution.org/rapid warming in the himalaya exacerbates geohazard cascades beyond adaptation limits/ and these catastrophic mountain tsunamis are direct consequences of global climate change.” Nepal’s US$20 million request is small compared to the billions of dollars in damage https://kathmandupost.com/money/2026/09/15/private sector bears bulk of bhotekoshi flood losses , but it is an important test of the Loss and Damage Fund https://unfccc.int/fund for responding to loss and damage ’s credibility. So far the fund, created during the U.N. climate conference in 2022 to respond to the impacts of climate change in developing countries, contains a fraction of the money major greenhouse gas emitters pledged to contribute, and it has paid out nothing despite requests from at least 119 nations https://www.frld.org/sites/default/files/FRLD B.9 7%20Report%20on%20the%20status%20of%20the%20pipeline%20for%20the%20BIM.pdf . Climate change is raising the risk It is scientifically well established that global temperatures are rising https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth assessment report cycle/ and fueling ice melt https://theconversation.com/ipcc climate report profound changes are underway in earths oceans and ice a lead author explains what the warnings mean 165588 and more extreme climate and weather conditions around the world. Increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, largely from burning fossil fuels, have pushed global temperatures so high https://climate.copernicus.eu/climate indicators/temperature that sea levels are rising, and shrinking glaciers and thawing permafrost are leaving mountainsides less stable https://theconversation.com/alaskas near record landslide tsunami sent a wave 1 580 feet up the fjord walls and left clues for building a warning system 282017 . A September 2026 U.N. Environment Program report determined that it is now inevitable that the planet will warm by at least 1.5 degrees https://www.unep.org/news and stories/press release/unep world set cross 15degc global warming can still limit adapt and Celsius 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit compared to temperatures before the Industrial Revolution. Communities will have to adapt to increasing hazards. The world committed under the Paris climate agreement https://unfccc.int/process and meetings/the paris agreement to try to limit warming to 1.5 C in an attempt to avoid the worst effects of climate change. But it is not on track https://www.unep.org/resources/limiting overshoot navigating exceedance , and many countries are paying the price. Is the fund just words? At least 119 countries have submitted requests for money https://www.frld.org/sites/default/files/FRLD B.9 7%20Report%20on%20the%20status%20of%20the%20pipeline%20for%20the%20BIM.pdf from the Loss and Damage Fund to help them respond to disasters or adapt to climate change. About 93% of the requests as of June 2026 involved extreme events such as floods. Over three quarters included slow onset events, such as requests for help building the infrastructure, including sea walls, and the capabilities to adapt to sea level rise. Together, the requests totaled $2.8 billion – about 10 times the amount of money that had actually reached the fund. Wealthy countries have so far pledged to give about $820 million https://www.frld.org/funding to the Loss and Damage Fund, but they have delivered only about a third of that – $250 million to $300 million https://www.frld.org/nodebim . The U.S. withdrew its support for the fund https://apnews.com/article/trump climate compensation fund withdrawal 0a74bfb4c2b82ed2748f890bb5b604e5 in 2025. The fund’s board, meanwhile, has yet to disburse money for any of the requests. At the most recent board meeting https://www.actionaidusa.org/insight/starved for resources the loss damage fund at a crossroads/ in June 2026, officials considered four requests for funding, but none were approved. The board has a responsibility to ensure that the money will be used appropriately. But one analysis of comments countries made while negotiating the creation of the fund and decisions of the fund board suggested that the slowness of both the disbursals and the setting up of the fund had been deliberate https://opus.bibliothek.uni augsburg.de/opus4/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/132763/file/132763.pdf – a practical evasion of a responsibility agreed to on paper. The board is scheduled to meet next in December 2026. Eight of the 26 board members formally requested an emergency meeting https://www.climatechangenews.com/2026/09/02/loss and damage fund urged to hold crisis meeting on nepal/ to respond to the disaster in Nepal quickly. The co chairs of the board acknowledged the request https://kathmandupost.com/national/2026/09/10/climate loss and damage fund moves to consider urgent support for nepal , but how the board might respond was unclear. Nepal needs billions for recovery Nepal is asking for about $20 million from the fund. However, the country’s finance minister, Swarnim Wagle, estimated that the country would need US$4 billion to $5 billion https://www.reuters.com/world/china/nepal needs least 4 billion rebuilding finance minister says 2026 08 29/ to rebuild from the flood damage – nearly a tenth of its national economy. Nepal lost over 10% of its hydropower capacity when a glacier collapsed on Aug. 26, causing the landslide and flood. Mud, water and rock inundated several riverside communities near the border with China, killing more than 1,400 people and leaving thousands more missing. The flood also broke through several hydropower dams in the Bhote Koshi river basin.
The flood buried several riverside communities in mud and rock and damaged more than a dozen hydropower dams, knocking out about a tenth of Nepal’s power production. Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via Getty Images In Nepal, many of the risks come from melting glaciers. The Himalayas and neighboring Hindu Kush mountains together contain one of the world’s largest volumes of ice https://www.icimod.org/press releases/hindu kush himalaya glaciers losing ice at double the rate since 2000 new icimod report confirm/ , but studies show they have been losing that ice fast as temperatures rise, with the loss rate doubling since 2000 https://www.icimod.org/press releases/hindu kush himalaya glaciers losing ice at double the rate since 2000 new icimod report confirm/ . When glaciers retreat, the result can create glacial lakes prone to outburst floods and unstable slopes prone to landslides like Nepal experienced https://theconversation.com/when a mountain falls how ice and rock triggered nepals catastrophic flood and why climate change is raising the risks 290779 . Nepal is receiving aid https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global aid heads nepal after devastating flash flood 2026 08 27/ directly from other countries, but it wants support from the Loss and Damage Fund in part because of what that would represent. The symbolism of the Loss and Damage Fund In many ways, the fund is symbolic, and that symbolism is important https://doi.org/10.1080/00139157.2023.2180268 d1e109 . Vulnerable countries fought through years of international climate talks to establish a principle of climate compensation and distinguish it from charity. Even if the amount that the fund disburses to Nepal is relatively small, it would represent compensation for harm caused by climate change. Countries are often willing to provide humanitarian assistance, but they are resistant to providing funding labeled “loss and damage,” unwilling to assume responsibility – and potentially liability https://www.leidenlawblog.nl/articles/loss damage fund justice or charity – for climate change.
People in the town of Devighat try to clean a home that was covered by the landslide’s debris. Pedro Pardo/AFP via Getty Images The decision establishing the fund https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115300 is very clear that contributions are voluntary and the act of contributing should not be interpreted as an acknowledgment of liability. Climate vulnerable countries consented to that language in the hope that it would bring in much needed help. If the fund acts promptly and pragmatically on that shared responsibility, global efforts to establish liability https://blogs.law.columbia.edu/climatechange/2025/09/19/law making initiatives of small island developing states on loss and damage/ for climate change through international tribunals and courts could ease. Speed matters To be effective, the Loss and Damage Fund needs to be more agile and responsive to the needs of the most climate vulnerable countries. During negotiations to set up the fund, one negotiator emphasized the need for resources to be accessible within 24 to 48 hours of a climate disaster https://enb.iisd.org/sharm el sheikh climate change conference cop27 daily report 8nov2022 . A coalition of experienced adaptation and disaster response organizations https://larutadelclima.org/wp content/uploads/2025/04/Joint submission on start up phase of the FRLD April 2025.pdf has argued that the fund should prioritize effective existing local and national programs https://www.undrr.org/news/successful localization disaster risk reduction efforts nepal supported through well and low cost and low risk projects. These include community based resilience and recovery with local volunteers, health centers and cash transfers to flood affected households. From response to anticipation The Loss and Damage Fund could also use its symbolic and modest financial position to nudge the broader humanitarian, development and climate finance ecosystem toward what’s known as anticipatory action https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract id=5125163 . Anticipatory action involves moving resources into at risk places before the disaster hits. It has been proven to speed up the response and recovery https://wfp evaluation.medium.com/acting early the causal impacts of wfps anticipatory action programmes in nepal and bangladesh fea93833208b . Emphasizing this approach could also lead to better forecasting, early warnings and planning that takes climate change into account to protect people in vulnerable regions around the world.
Tarun Gopalakrishnan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.