KATHMANDU, Sept. 26: Prime Minister Balendra Shah has made a passionate appeal for urgent global action on climate change, describing the recent Bhotekoshi-Trishuli floods in Nepal as a warning to the world and urging countries to strengthen climate resilience, financing and international cooperation.
Addressing the 81st Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Friday, Shah said Nepal had come to the UN not merely to report a national disaster but to deliver a warning about the consequences of a warming planet. “Climate change does not recognize borders,” Shah said, stressing that the devastation caused by floods, landslides and other climate-related hazards can cross national boundaries.
Referring to the catastrophic flash floods that struck Nepal’s mountain communities four weeks earlier, Shah said the Bhotekoshi-Trishuli disaster was “not just a local tragedy; it was a warning to the world.” He questioned whether the international community had truly heard the warning, recalling earlier calls for urgent climate action from the Himalayas.
The prime minister said a warming climate was destabilising the fragile Himalayan ecology, with melting permafrost increasing the risks of ice-rock avalanches, floods, landslides and other cascading hazards. The disaster, he said, had affected areas on both sides of the Nepal-China border, with floodwaters continuing downstream towards India.
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Shah said Nepal, despite contributing less than 0.1 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions, was paying a “colossal price” for a crisis it did not create. He linked climate disasters directly to Nepal’s development challenges, saying they destroy infrastructure, livelihoods and clean-energy facilities while forcing poorer countries to borrow for reconstruction.
According to Shah, Nepal now faces a massive recovery and reconstruction task following the catastrophic flood, with confirmed deaths at 1,453 and more than 5,500 people still missing. Rapid assessments, he said, estimated physical recovery needs at about 10 percent of Nepal’s GDP.
The prime minister called for climate justice to move beyond declarations and become concrete action. He invoked the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities under the UN climate framework, arguing that countries with greater historical contributions to climate change and greater capacity to respond should do more.
Shah also proposed the establishment of a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism, led by Nepal, India and China. The proposed mechanism would facilitate the sharing of satellite data and expertise, monitoring of dangerous glacial lakes, joint early-warning systems and coordinated cross-border disaster assistance.
He said Nepal was already taking steps to strengthen its climate response, including restoring forests, expanding hydropower, promoting electric mobility and improving local-level climate adaptation.
But Shah argued that Nepal could not build resilience alone. He called for adequate grant-based international support and criticised existing climate-financing mechanisms as inadequate for vulnerable countries facing climate-related disasters. “When the house is burning, we do not ask the family to complete fifty forms. We act,” Shah said, arguing that climate finance should be accessible without cumbersome bureaucratic procedures.
Broadening his address beyond climate change, Shah called for a fairer international economic order and stronger multilateralism. He contrasted the rapid movement of military supplies across borders with difficulties faced by ordinary people in obtaining essential goods such as fertiliser and fuel. “We have built a world with flawless logistics for war and broken logistics for food,” Shah said.
He said climate justice was also a question of distributive and procedural justice, including who bears the costs of climate change and who has a voice in decisions affecting vulnerable communities and future generations.
Shah also urged the international community to move from ad hoc disaster responses towards a culture of preparedness, with greater investment in resilience, insurance, innovation, stronger infrastructure and early-warning systems. “The Nepal floods signal a future shaped by rising climate extremes,” he said, calling on world leaders to be prepared to hear and act when the next warning comes “from the rooftop of the world.”
