Flood-damaged Nepal wants help from the global climate Loss and Damage Fund – but it’s waiting, along with 118 other countries

In August 2026, Nepal suffered a catastrophic flood triggered by a glacier collapse in the Himalayas, which killed over 1,400 people and left thousands missing.

The disaster destroyed riverside communities, buried homes in mud and rock, and damaged more than a dozen hydropower dams, cutting off about 10% of Nepal’s electricity.

The flood was described as a Himalayan tsunami by Nepal’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, who linked it directly to climate change caused by global greenhouse gas emissions.

Nepal, which contributes almost no emissions itself, argued that wealthy, high-emitting countries should be held legally and morally responsible for the damage, framing the request for compensation as a matter of justice rather than charity.