Technology and Science22 September, 20263 min read
Nepal’s Dharam R Uprety Says Loss And Damage Fund Has Not Disbursed Bhote Koshi Requests
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Dharam R Uprety heads Nepal's National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority. Nepal formally requested UN Loss and Damage Fund support after floods; no disbursement yet.
Floods, deaths, missing
Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority head Dharam R Uprety said a wall of ice, rock, and water tore through the Bhote Koshi river system and left the death toll at nearly 1,500 people with 5,800 more still missing. Dharam R Uprety said Nepal is facing a reconstruction bill of at least $5 billion and urged the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage to treat the Bhote Koshi disaster as a special case. Dharam R Uprety said the Loss and Damage fund holds $820 million in pledges yet “not a single dollar has yet been disbursed for the nearly $3 billion in requests.”
Dharam R Uprety said a new study from the World Weather Attribution found that global warming was a likely contributing factor for the avalanche. Dharam R Uprety said Nepal’s government set a target to replace petrol/diesel vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs) by 2031 while the country already gets most of its electricity from clean sources.
Rally for justice
Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman said Nepali activists were rallying outside United Nations headquarters during Climate Week in New York to demand global emitters take responsibility for the cost of damages and immediately phase out fossil fuels.
Anisha Buda told the rally that “we are gathered here outside the U.N. to call for global solidarity,” and she said they were holding the Global North accountable for responsibility in more than 90% of the global emission of carbon.
Anisha Buda said Nepal’s prime minister would speak at the U.N. General Assembly and that Nepal was asking the international fund for loss and damage of $20 million.
Anisha Buda said the flood had resulted in “one of the most devastating floods that happened in Nepal on 26th August,” and she said Indigenous peoples were demanding climate justice and climate reparations.
Democracy Now! said the rally was framed around climate reparations and a just transition out of fossil fuels as world leaders met inside the United Nations for the General Assembly.
Aid, funds, and stakes
The United States announced $31 million in planned assistance for Nepal after the August floods, and the package included $10 million for bridges, $8 million for community support, and $13 million for drones. The National Herald reported that US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker announced the package after meeting Nepal’s foreign minister Shisir Khanal on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York. The National Herald said the announcement brought total US assistance for Nepal’s flood response and recovery to more than $36 million and said the State Department expressed sympathy for families of approximately 70 Americans who remain unaccounted for.
Raju Pandit Chhetri, Executive Director of the Prakriti Resources Centre, said Nepal is seeking $20m from the UN Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage but that accessing the cash has proved to be impossible. The British Red Cross said on 26 August 2026 a major flash flood struck Nepal’s Rasuwa district and reported that more than 5,000 people were missing in Nepal, including more than 500 foreign nationals.