Following the deaths caused by devastating floods in the Himalayan region last week, Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah has said this was no “ordinary flood,” but a disaster caused by climate change. He has called on the international community to act swiftly.
A glacier collapsed on the China-Nepal border, sending a massive torrent of icy water and debris rushing down. At least 939 people have died and roughly 4,500 remain missing. Kathmandu has said reconstruction after the disaster could cost “several billion dollars.”
In a social media post Monday night, Prime Minister Balendra Shah said: “The flooding of the Bhotekoshi River in the Rasuwa area was no ordinary flood. This disaster was caused by a massive collapse of snow and ice in the Himalayan region. It was one of the most devastating natural disasters this region has seen.”
The exact cause of the glacier collapse is not yet clear. But climate change is causing glaciers worldwide to melt more rapidly, raising the risk of such disasters. Scientists say that as global temperatures rise, ice in the Himalayas — the world’s highest mountain range — is also melting faster than before.
Shah said: “This event shows that as climate change continues, the risks we face in the Himalayan region are also growing. We need to keep a close watch on this region.”
Most of Nepal’s roughly 30 million people live in rural areas. Compared with the massive carbon emissions of industrialized, wealthy nations, Nepal’s contribution to global warming is minuscule — yet the country bears a large share of climate change’s harmful impact.
Prime Minister Shah said Nepal’s situation should be raised more forcefully at the international level. “Now is the time to press our case strongly with the international community over the disasters we’re facing because of climate change,” he said.
Glacial meltwater from the greater Himalayan and Hindu Kush mountain ranges is a vital water source for roughly 240 million people in the mountainous region. That same water is tied to the lives and livelihoods of another roughly 1.65 billion people living in the river basins of South and Southeast Asia downstream.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned during a 2023 visit to Nepal that Himalayan glaciers were melting rapidly and that “the roof of the world is caving in.”
After Wednesday’s devastating disaster, UN climate chief Simon Stiell said the event was “a horrifying reminder of just how fragile mountain environments can be.”
Meanwhile, with limited resources to cope with a disaster of this scale, Nepal’s economy is already under strain.