KATHMANDU, Sept 10: The devastating floods in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers are being viewed not as an ordinary natural disaster but as the result of human-driven “climate injustice”.
Based on views expressed by lawmakers, scientific assessments and statements from senior political leaders, the disaster has been portrayed as part of a wider crisis facing the Hindu Kush Himalayan region.
Rastriya Swatantra Party Chair Rabi Lamichhane has called for the disaster to become a major agenda for climate justice. Speaking at Wednesday’s House of Representatives meeting, Lamichhane said innocent Nepalis who have contributed virtually nothing to global warming were being forced to pay the price of climate change through floods. He also proposed several measures to address disasters linked to climate change.
Lamichhane called for floods, landslides and other disasters to be declared a nationally significant climate emergency. He also proposed forming an all-party special parliamentary committee to examine the causes and damage caused by the disaster and take it to international forums. He called for a national record of deaths, missing people, displacement and property damage caused by the floods.
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He also proposed that Parliament adopt a special resolution on Himalayan climate and disaster emergencies and take the issue to international forums. Nepal should seek fair, grant based climate finance for reconstruction, including support from the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, he said.
Lamichhane stressed that Nepal should use the United Nations General Assembly as an important opportunity for climate diplomacy. He said anger expressed by flood victims toward the state should be seen as a natural response. He also called for strict action against supporters of any political party who exploit the grief of victims or post offensive comments on social media.
Former prime minister and Nepali Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba has also said Nepal has contributed little to climate change but has suffered heavily from its effects. Speaking at an event in Bhaktapur on Wednesday to mark BP Koirala’s birth anniversary, Deuba said political parties should rise above partisan interests and work together to rescue victims, provide relief and build safer long-term infrastructure.
A high-level government delegation is scheduled to attend the 81st UN General Assembly in the first week of Ashoj. Experts say Nepal should use the assembly as a historic opportunity to highlight the suffering of its mountains and press the international community for climate justice.
Dr Maheshwar Dhakal, chief of the Climate Management Division, said the source area of the flood has no human settlements or industries and is a zero-carbon emission zone.
Citing scientific studies and IPCC reports confirming that the Hindu Kush Himalayan region is experiencing rapid warming, Dhakal said rising temperatures are accelerating glacier melt and triggering rock avalanches from glaciers, leading to unprecedented floods. He said there was no doubt that the recent flood was entirely climate-related and a product of climate change.
UN Assistant Secretary General Kanni Wignaraja and scientists from ICIMOD have said rising temperatures in the Himalayan region are accelerating glacier melt and increasing the risk of glacial lake outburst floods. They urged Nepal to seek international financial and technical support for early warning systems and climate resilient infrastructure.
Dr Dinesh Poudel of the Department of Sustainable Development at Appalachian State University in the United States said Nepal should build national consensus, raise the Bhotekoshi glacial flood at international forums and appeal for climate justice.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah will lead Nepal’s delegation to the UN General Assembly. Political leaders from different parties, diplomats and climate experts have urged Nepal to present evidence and scientific findings on climate change and the Bhotekoshi floods at the assembly.
