BENGALURU, India — A United Nations climate fund has provisionally set aside $20 million to help Nepal recover from catastrophic flooding that killed more than 1,400 people, left thousands missing and caused billions of dollars in damage to homes, schools and hydropower dams in the Himalayan country and in China.
Nepalese government officials and climate policy experts welcomed the move, but said the $20 million represents only a fraction of the $4.7 billion the government estimates is needed for recovery and reconstruction.
“It’s a very small amount compared to what we lost,” said Maheshwar Dhakal, a senior official in Nepal’s climate and environment ministry. But Dhakal said that releasing the money sends a significant message: “This shows that the global community can take the right decision at the right time to help those who are most vulnerable to climate change.”
The government said it had received around $102 million from domestic and international donors as of the end of September. Dhakal said the government is working with neighboring countries like India and China, as well as multilateral development banks, to raise more of the money it needs for recovery.
It's the first payout from a UN fund to respond to climate disasters
The U.N. Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage approved the payout — the fund's first — at an emergency board meeting Thursday.
The fund is aimed at providing assistance to countries hit by climate change. It was created at the 2022 U.N. climate talks following years of demands from vulnerable developing nations, which contribute relatively little to emissions of planet-warming gases but often bear some of the worst consequences.
Countries have pledged more than $820 million to the fund, while it faces 176 requests for support from developing nations totaling about $2.8 billion. The fund’s board members will meet in December to consider more support requests.
The next round of U.N. climate negotiations is scheduled to begin in Turkey next month, and financing for countries impacted by climate-related disasters is expected to be a key issue.
Climate change helped fuel Nepal floods
Nepal's Prime Minister Balendra Shah, speaking at the United Nations in September, said Nepal was paying a devastating price for a crisis it had barely contributed to causing.
“We did not create this crisis, yet we are paying a colossal price for it,” he said.
Human-caused climate change was a key factor in destabilizing the mountainside whose collapse triggered the devastating flood.
An analysis by the World Weather Attribution research group released in September found that warming temperatures had thinned glaciers and thawed permafrost, weakening the ice and frozen ground that helped hold mountain rock in place.
Climate scientists said that rising temperatures are causing glaciers to retreat across the Himalayas and thawing permanently frozen ground that helps bind fractured mountain rock together.
The Himalayan region contains the largest volume of snow and ice outside the polar regions. More than 63,000 glaciers in the area feed at least 10 major Asian river systems and support the food, water, energy and livelihood security of billions of people. However, studies have found that around 78% of the glacier area, which is located between 4,500 and 6,000 meters (14,763 to 19,685 feet) above sea level, is highly exposed to warming. United Nations reports have found that between 2000 and 2019, glaciers lost 267 billion tons of ice per year.
International aid cuts deepen crisis for climate-vulnerable countries
Massive cuts to international aid budgets, including that of the United States Agency for International Development, have made it harder for countries like Nepal to prepare and respond to climate-driven disasters, said climate experts.
“The (U.N.) loss and damage fund’s response to the floods is now demonstrating, in equally devastating fashion, the utter inadequacy of support from rich countries for countries like Nepal,” said Brandon Wu, policy and campaigns director at ActionAid USA.
Official development assistance from major donor countries fell 23% in 2025 according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The United States led the reductions, while Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Japan also cut aid spending.
“The reality is that we need trillions of dollars every year, but developed countries have not met their obligation,” said Harjeet Singh of the Fill the Fund campaign, a global group that pressures governments to contribute to the U.N. fund.
Singh called for a permanent mechanism capable of delivering emergency climate assistance quickly, rather than forcing disaster-hit countries through lengthy approval processes.
“Nepal needs billions to rebuild, and this Fund is responding only in millions,” he said.
The funding shortfall is expected to intensify demands at the upcoming U.N. climate talks for richer countries to increase their financial commitments.
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Sibi Arasu can be followed on X at @sibi123. Reach him at sarasu@ap.org.
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