Nepal's leader says his country is paying the price of climate change

Four weeks after catastrophic flash floods ravaged Nepal, the small Himalayan country's prime minister stood at the podium of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to warn leaders about the impact of a warming world.

"I wish I could stand here today simply to speak about development, democracy, peace and the hopes of a young nation. Instead, I must speak about death and destruction of epic proportions," Prime Minister Balendra Shah said in his UNGA address Thursday.

Nepal's leader calls for cooperation to protect the Himalayas 

The Nepalese leader stressed that the perils of climate change transcend national borders as he made a case for greater international cooperation for protecting the Himalayas. 

"The Himalayas are not peripheral to the planet. They are part of the planet's life-support system," Shah said, proposing the establishment of a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism, which he said would be led by Nepal, India and China.

Shah elaborated that the mechanism would help countries share satellite data and expertise, as well as monitor glacial lakes that pose a threat. He also called for stronger joint early-warning systems and coordinated, cross-border assistance in the event of a disaster. 

"Let the Himalayas become a laboratory of international cooperation, rather than a frontier of fragmented information," the prime minister said. 

Nepal paying 'colossal' price for climate change

Shah noted that his country contributes less than 0.1% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

"We did not create this crisis. Yet we are paying a colossal price for it," he said, adding that he was not blaming any individual nation or continent. 

"We are not here to turn climate change into another geopolitical battlefield. We are here to ask everyone to recommit to shared responsibility and solidarity," Shah said.

Grants, not loans, necessary for flood recovery

The Nepalese prime minister emphasized the principles of responsibility, reparation and resilience as he called for grant-based support rather than loans.

Shah said vulnerable nations should not be forced to take on additional debt to recover from climate catastrophes.

"When a climate-driven disaster destroys the infrastructure of a poor country, the answer cannot simply be another mega loan or a patchwork of small grants. We need adequate grant-based support from the world," he said.

The 36-year-old Shah was the youngest head of government to speak at the 81st session of the UNGA.

Nepal-Tibet floods — the deadly 'Himalayan tsunami'

On August 26, a glacier collapsed near the border between Nepal and China's ​Tibet Autonomous Region, unleashing landslides and a flash flood that ripped through downstream valleys. 

In the days after the disaster, the world watched powerful images of the widespread destruction emerge from Nepal.

Entire villages were flattened. In other visuals, people trapped in hydropower tunnels deep within the Himalayas  were seen crawling away a thick sludge of mud to reach rescuers.

Over 6,000 people are still reported to be missing, with search and recovery efforts still ongoing.

2 survivors found as Nepal faces grim floods aftermath