KATHMANDU — Prime Minister Balendra Shah is heading to New York with a clear message for the international community: Nepal is paying a heavy price for a climate crisis it did little to create.

Shah will attend the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly accompanied by senior government ministers, including Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal. He had initially been reluctant to travel to New York and was preparing to send a delegation led by Khanal.

The devastating August 26 flood in the Bhote Koshi River in Rasuwa, however, changed the calculus. Party leaders and independent observers urged Shah to use the UN platform to draw global attention to Nepal’s growing vulnerability to climate change and climate-induced disasters.

The flood caused devastating loss of life and property and once again exposed Nepal’s vulnerability to extreme weather events. For Shah, the disaster offers a stark illustration of the climate injustice faced by countries that contribute little to global greenhouse gas emissions but suffer disproportionately from their consequences.

In his UN engagements, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs  Shah will put Nepal’s climate concerns at the centre of his message, alongside the country’s positions on major global and regional issues, including ongoing wars.

He is expected to make five key points:

• Nepal is on the climate frontlines: Shah will highlight the repeated loss of lives, property and livelihoods caused by climate change and climate-induced disasters. He will argue that disasters such as the Bhote Koshi flood demonstrate the urgency of addressing Nepal’s growing climate vulnerability.
• Those who emit least are suffering most: He will underline the disproportionate impact of climate change on Nepal, despite the country’s negligible contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions.
• Nepal needs climate justice, not sympathy: Shah will call for climate justice and demand immediate and fair compensation for climate-related losses through mechanisms such as the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD).
• Rich nations must provide finance and technology: He will urge developed countries to make climate finance more accessible and concessional and to facilitate technology transfers. Such support, he will argue, is essential for Nepal to build climate-resilient infrastructure, advance climate-smart agriculture and strengthen the capacity of institutions and communities.
• Nepal is also part of the global environmental solution: Shah will showcase Nepal’s contribution to environmental protection, pointing to its nature-friendly way of life, more than 46 percent forest cover, vast Himalayan region and extensive river systems. Nepal, he will stress, has continued to protect ecosystems of global significance despite its limited resources.

 

Shah’s message is expected to go beyond the immediate devastation caused by the Bhote Koshi flood. By taking Nepal’s climate vulnerability to the UN, the prime minister will seek to frame the disaster as part of a broader global injustice—and press the countries most responsible for climate change to shoulder a greater share of the cost.