KATHMANDU: Nepal has made an urgent appeal to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage for a rapid and direct response to the catastrophic Bhote Koshi flash floods, saying the disaster has caused losses and disruption beyond the country's immediate response capacity.

In a letter dated August 31, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle and Agriculture, Forests and Environment Minister Gita Chaudhary urged the fund's board to take a special decision to respond to the disaster in accordance with its governing instrument.

The flash floods struck the Bhote Koshi River basin on August 26, causing loss of life, displacement and extensive damage to homes and critical infrastructure, while disrupting essential services, livelihoods, markets and connectivity in downstream communities, the government said.

Nepal said the disaster affected a fragile transboundary mountain river system, with cascading consequences extending well beyond the immediate flood zone.

“Time is of the essence,” the government said, arguing that an early response would help protect affected communities, restore essential services and prevent further suffering.

Nepal says full losses are still being assessed

The government said search, rescue, relief and rapid damage-assessment operations are continuing and that the full scale of the economic and non-economic loss and damage has yet to be determined.

Preliminary information, however, indicates that the consequences are extensive and have exceeded Nepal's immediate capacity to respond, it said.

Nepal also highlighted its status as a least developed and highly climate-vulnerable mountainous country, saying it contributes negligibly to global greenhouse gas emissions while facing disproportionate and escalating climate impacts.

The government said the Bhote Koshi disaster demonstrated how extreme events in the cryosphere can rapidly cascade from high mountain areas into densely populated downstream communities, affecting water, food, energy, health, infrastructure, ecosystems and human security.

Nepal has offered to provide preliminary assessments, official data, satellite information and sectoral damage estimates to support the fund's response.

It has also requested the immediate designation of a Secretariat focal point to coordinate with relevant Nepali authorities.

The government said an early response would demonstrate the fund's ability to translate international solidarity into timely support for vulnerable countries and communities facing climate-related losses beyond their capacity to address alone.