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Nepal Asks UN for $20M Climate Loss Compensation

9/8/2026

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Summary

Khanal Seeks Compensation

Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal asked the UN loss-and-damage fund for $20 million climate compensation.
Glacial-rock collapse floods killed at least 1,384 people in Nepal and Tibet and left over 5,500 missing.
Preliminary damage estimates total $2.56 billion, with total losses projected above $5 billion.
The disaster destroyed a hydropower corridor supplying about 10% of Nepal’s electricity, 20% of capacity under construction.

Summary

Relatives Demand Rescue

About 50 relatives gathered at Kathmandu’s Maitighar Mandala on Sept 7, chanting for faster rescues.
Protesters said the army sent only a small excavator and demanded larger helicopters.
Families held symbolic cremations with effigies because fewer than one in ten recovered bodies were identified.
Police buried over 1,000 unidentified corpses temporarily, prompting outrage over breach of Hindu burial customs.

History

Historical Context

On 25 April 2015 a magnitude-7.8 quake struck Gorkha, killing 8,962 people, injuring 21,952 and damaging roughly $10 billion—about half Nepal’s GDP. International pledges, including $1.2 billion from the UN and 30 % of hydropower repairs by the World Bank, spurred Operation Sankat Mochan. Decades later, Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal’s $20 million loss-and-damage request revives those unmet reconstruction promises.

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Khanal Seeks Compensation

Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal asked the UN loss-and-damage fund for $20 million climate compensation.
Glacial-rock collapse floods killed at least 1,384 people in Nepal and Tibet and left over 5,500 missing.
Preliminary damage estimates total $2.56 billion, with total losses projected above $5 billion.
The disaster destroyed a hydropower corridor supplying about 10% of Nepal’s electricity, 20% of capacity under construction.

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