NEW DELHI: Marking its first response to a climate change-induced loss and damage event, a UN body has decided to provide $21.6 million to Nepal that faced catastrophic flash floods in Aug, triggered by a massive rock-ice avalanche and a partial glacier collapse.
The decision taken this week by the UN body, the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), in its emergency meeting assumes significance as it is not only a kind of admission that climate change causes such extreme events, but also an endorsement of the principle that historical polluters (developed nations) must contribute to the fund to assist vulnerable developing countries.
The purpose of this fund, created under the UN climate change framework, is to assist developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. The fund was established at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in 2022 and operationalised at COP28 in Dubai, UAE, in 2023.
“This is a historic first step, but it cannot be a one-off. No country should have to endure a catastrophe and wait seven weeks just to unlock the Fund’s first-ever emergency meeting. We must set up a permanent rapid-response system that moves support in days, not months,” said Harjeet Singh, a climate change expert and the global convener of the Fill the Fund campaign.