Nepal to get $20 million from climate fund after deadly August flood
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A drone view shows houses covered in mud after the flash floods and mudslide, at Devighat, Nuwakot district, Nepal, August 29, 2026.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Nepal will get US$20 million from the UN climate loss and damage fund after the deadly Aug 26 flood near Tibet, which killed about 1,500 people and left more than 5,000 missing.
- The flood hit about 60,000 people in 15,000 families and caused about US$2.7 billion in damage to roads, bridges, schools and 13 hydropower plants.
- Officials say reconstruction could cost over US$4.7 billion, so the UN aid covers less than 1% of Nepal’s needs; Prime Minister Balendra Shah blamed climate change and called the disaster a warning to the world.
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KATHMANDU - Nepal will receive US$20 million (S$25 million) in aid from the United Nations' climate loss and damage fund after the devastating flood along its border with China’s Tibet region in August, the government said late on Thursday.
The Aug 26 flood killed about 1,500 people and more than 5,000 are still missing.
The flood affected about 60,000 people from 15,000 families, according to official data, and caused losses estimated at about US$2.7 billion to infrastructure including roads, bridges, schools and 13 hydropower plants.
Early official estimates show reconstruction bills could top US$4.7 billion.
The UN climate aid accounts for less than 1% of what Nepal needs to cover the cost of the flood.
The support from the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) was to "help address the severe damage caused by a climate-related disaster," the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Environment said in a statement.
Nepal had sought the assistance in a letter to the FRLD in August, less than a week after the flood.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah, 36, in his maiden speech to the United Nations in September, said Nepal's disaster served as a warning to the world, and he blamed climate change for the flood despite his country's negligible emissions. REUTERS