Nepal Disaster Has Sounded a Climate Alarm, China Minister Warns

China’s top environment official pointed to August’s deadly glacial collapse and flooding in Nepal as an urgent warning about the accelerating risks of climate change, as world leaders and diplomats prepare for annual global talks.

China’s top environment official pointed to August’s deadly glacial collapse and flooding in Nepal as an urgent warning about the accelerating risks of climate change, as world leaders and diplomats prepare for annual global talks.

“An ice-rock avalanche that occurred not long ago along the Nepal border has once again sounded the alarm for us,” Ecology and Environment Minister Huang Runqiu said Wednesday at the One Earth Summit in Hong Kong. “Climate change is not a potential danger, but a real risk facing humanity today.” 

The disaster, which killed more than 1,400 people in Nepal and 43 in Tibet, has prompted fresh debate about the adequacy of climate finance and disaster relief — issues scheduled to be debated next month at the United Nations-convened COP31 summit in Antalya, Turkey.

Nepal, one of Asia’s poorest countries, estimates initial economic loss and damage totals at least $2.69 billion, with longer-term recovery and reconstruction requirements likely to be about $4.71 billion. A UN fund set up to help developing countries recover from climate disasters earlier this month agreed to reserve about $20 million for Nepal. 

China has become a major provider of climate finance globally and offered its neighbor $2 million in direct bilateral assistance immediately after flooding. Even so, China and other nations have come under pressure from Nepal to contribute more. 

The world’s No. 2 economy has long insisted its capacity is limited because of its own status as a developing country, a source of frustration for climate advocates who want the nation to do more.

China is also assisting the global energy transition by lowering costs of green technologies that help combat climate change, Huang said in his speech.

“We will leverage the advantages of China’s vast market and wide range of real-world applications to accelerate the upgrading of clean technologies and keep driving down costs, helping the Global South share in the benefits of green development and better supporting the global energy transition and South-South cooperation,” Haung said.

Chinese wind and solar products exported between 2021 and 2025 helped the world avoid about 4.1 billion metric tons of carbon emissions overseas, Huang said, citing an official estimate used previously by officials.

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