Nepal’s devastating floods should serve as a turning point for global climate action, with the international community helping the Himalayan nation recover, a senior United Nations official has said.
Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS), told AFP on Saturday that the disaster highlighted the need for international solidarity and greater responsibility from countries contributing the most to climate change.
Nepal suffered one of the worst disasters in its history on Aug 26, when a mountain collapse near the Chinese border triggered catastrophic floods that killed more than 1,400 people and left over 5,000 missing.
Scientists said climate change played a significant role in the disaster.
Moreira da Silva said he witnessed “massive devastation” during a visit to affected communities.
Nepal, a largely rural country with a population of 30 million that contributes little to global greenhouse gas emissions, estimates that reconstruction will cost US$4.78 billion.
“This is a defining moment not only for Nepal, this is a defining moment for the international community,” he told AFP in Kathmandu.
“It’s not fair to ask a country that emits almost nothing of CO2 to suddenly pay alone the consequence of something that was not generated by the country,” he said.
“That’s why it’s fundamental that global solidarity is brought to this equation.”
Calls for climate justice
Moreira da Silva said reconstruction and resettlement efforts must take future climate risks into account, while the international community must renew its commitment to tackling climate change.
“It’s also about climate justice and climate responsibility,” he said, warning that countries with low emissions would continue to bear the brunt of climate change.
“This is going to happen unless those countries that emit the most… change their pathway,” he said.
He said Nepal was rebuilding while global disruptions were also threatening food security.
Moreira da Silva also leads the UN task force for the Strait of Hormuz. He warned that simultaneous disruptions at three key maritime routes were creating significant challenges, particularly for food security.
“The simultaneous disruption of the three maritime shock points… the Strait of Hormuz, in the Black Sea and in the Red Sea, poses a significant challenge, particularly on food security,” he said.
UN launches emergency aid appeal
The United Nations and its humanitarian partners launched a US$49.6 million appeal last month to provide emergency assistance to flood victims in Nepal.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Balendra Shah told the United Nations last month that the flooding “was a warning to the world” about the growing dangers posed by climate change.
