Nepal seeks climate compensation from China, US and India after deadly floods

Nepal is seeking climate compensation from the largest emitters, China, America and India, following over a thousand deaths and several billion dollars in damages from floods, stated the foreign minister of Nepal.

Foreign minister of Nepal Shishir Khanal stated that it is time for Nepal to shift from receiving traditional disaster aid to making claims of compensation, because rich emitters bear responsibilities to support the climate-impacted poorer nation.

“We are shifting our diplomatic framework from ‘aid’ to ‘justice and compensation’. This is not a matter of charity; this is a matter of legal and moral liability”, Khanal said on Kantipur TV during an interview, as reported on The Print.

In an interview, Khanal said that the main greenhouse gas emitter, China, was followed by the United States and India and those were the ones primarily responsible toward vulnerable Nepal due to their carbon footprint.

This new call came following massive floods in Himalayan Nepal that have taken more than 1000 lives, left several thousand missing and devastated much of the infrastructure across the country.

The contribution of Nepal to the carbon emissions of greenhouse gases of the whole planet has been reported to be less than 0.1%, though it is highly prone to disasters initiated by global climatic change, like landslides and glacial floods.