Response to UN Climate Fund Decision on Nepal Flood Recovery

In response to the decision by the UN Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) to set aside $21.6 million for Nepal’s flood recovery efforts, marking the fund’s first-ever funding allocation, Laurie van der Burg, Global Public Finance Program Manager at Oil Change International, said:

“The decision to allocate funding for Nepal’s recovery is welcome, but it is long overdue. Two months after catastrophic glacial floods killed more than 1,400 people, with more than 5,000 still missing, communities cannot afford to wait any longer. This money needs to get out the door now.

“It is also important to recognize that $21.6 million falls far short of the $4.7 billion needed for Nepal’s recovery. And it stands in stark contrast with the $25.7 billion in public finance that the G7 continues to spend every year to prop up fossil fuels – despite commitments to end such financing. That’s more than five times what Nepal needs to recover, spent instead on fueling the climate crisis and worsening the disasters devastating communities around the world.. Developed countries must end their fossil fuel subsidies, make polluters pay and support reforming unfair debt, trade, tax and financial rules to free up trillions. This would allow them to avoid cutting public spending at home, while at the same time delivering the climate finance they owe to the Global South.”