Nepal PM tells UN that deadly floods are a climate warning and loss and damage funding is too slow

Nepal's prime minister used his UN General Assembly speech to tie recent deadly floods to climate change and call out the gap between climate pledges and actual aid. The August disaster killed at least 1,400 people and caused over $5 billion in damage, roughly 15% of Nepal's GDP. Nepal's foreign minister called it a development emergency, not just a humanitarian one. The country gets about 99% of its electricity from hydropower, and workers died trapped in tunnels at the Chilime project. Nepal contributes less than 0.1% of global emissions, while U.S. aid so far stands at $36 million, less than 1% of the estimated need. The speech also pressed for a less bureaucratic loss and damage fund and introduced the word reparation into the UN debate, a term that remains difficult for large historical emitters.