A Call for Climate and Economic Justice for Flood-affected Communities in Nepal

A Call for Climate and Economic Justice for Flood-affected Communities in Nepal

07 October 2024
Chiang Mai, Thailand

Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD) raises concerns about the flooding situation, the worsening climate crisis, and its impact on women and communities in Nepal.

Since 26 September 2024, heavy rains have caused widespread devastation across Nepal, with Kathmandu Valley being hit the hardest. Over 200 people were killed in what experts have described as some of the worst flash flooding to affect the capital, Kathmandu, and its surrounding valleys. More than 50 people are still missing, while about 4,331 people have been rescued nationwide.

Officials reported that by 30 September 2024 afternoon, 204 bodies had been recovered, with hundreds more injured. Dozens of those who died were on buses washed away by surging floodwaters that engulfed the highways.

Nepal is significantly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, ranking as the 10th most affected country globally, according to the Climate Risk Index in 2021. Despite contributing a mere 0.027% to total global greenhouse gas emissions, a study by the Asian Development Bank projects that Nepal will face a 2.2% loss in its annual GDP due to climate change by 2050. The country is paying a hefty price—not only in lives, but in the destruction of schools, homes, and bridges. This disaster highlights the stark disparity between wealthy, advanced industrial countries—the largest contributors towards climate change—and countries like Nepal, which, despite negligible carbon emissions, bear the brunt of its impacts.

More than 300 people have died in Nepal this year alone from heavy and unpredictable rain-related incidents. Recent studies predict that incidents of severe flooding are likely to increase in the Himalayan country in the next five years. This escalating crisis is a direct result of present and historical emissions from Global North countries, which have failed to commit to emission reduction and climate finance pledges. Billions continue to be invested in fossil fuel industries annually, while their commitment to provide adequate climate finance to Global South countries is minimal. Despite only millions being pledged for loss and damage, real losses are expected to reach $19 to $59 trillion by 2050. Moreover, the promised $100 billion per year in climate finance for developing countries has yet to be fulfilled. 

Compounding this issue is Nepal’s rush to develop hydropower, which is not only disproportionate, but dangerous. With 124 plants operating and 244 more planned, these projects disregard environmental risks and the rights of women and Indigenous communities. In Manthali, for instance, rural women from the Mahji community are losing their land and livelihoods due to both destructive hydropower projects and worsening climate disasters. These dams aren’t solutions—they worsen poverty, undermine sustainable living, and heighten vulnerability to climate crisis.

Recent floods have also caused Rs. 4.35 billion in damages, including severe impacts to 11 hydropower plants. Thus, rather than solving the climate crisis, hydropower projects are making its impacts worse, as Nepal bears the cost of a development model that ignores both climate risks and the needs of its most vulnerable communities.

Similar crises have been witnessed across other South Asian and Southeast Asian countries in recent years. In 2022, Pakistan survived a devastating flood that impacted one third of the country. In May 2024, flash floods in Indonesia killed at least 67 people and displaced more than 4,000. In August 2024, floods in Bangladesh caused widespread destruction and claimed 71 lives, according to UNICEF. In September 2024, 1 million people in Myanmar were affected by the flooding from heavy monsoon rains and remnants of Typhoon Yagi. Communities in northern Thailand have been devastated by heavy rains and rising rivers, with at least 33 people losing their lives in the country since mid-August 2024. 

Floods have decimated villages, with thousands of homes destroyed or submerged underwater, causing widespread internal displacement. These hazardous conditions have destroyed riverside homes, businesses, and agricultural lands. 

For nearly a decade, local communities and civil society groups have raised their concerns about the hydropower dams, claiming that developers and their Thailand-based investors have failed to account for the dam’s potential impacts on people living upstream. As hydropower development in the region accelerates in response to the global push for decarbonisation, cracks in the region’s outdated and limited river governance mechanisms are becoming ever more apparent.

These calamities are not natural. They are a result of deliberate choices exacerbated by economic and health crises. We call for immediate relief and justice for all the victims of the climate crisis, along with government inaction and a history of oppressions.

We raise the following recommendations and demands: 

• National and local governments must provide immediate relief to ensure the welfare of communities, especially women, affected by the floods.
• Global North countries, International Financial Institutions and private sectors must be held accountable for the impacts of climate false solutions, as well as loss and damage. These costs should be paid as climate reparations, not through loans that further trap the developing countries in debt. 
• Reject the corporate capture and commodification of our forests, rivers, and air under the guise of carbon offsets and Net Zero strategies. 
• Ensure direct access to climate finance so that national institutions and local communities can obtain the necessary funds without excessive bureaucratic hurdles. Funds for climate projects are often channelled through intermediaries, such as Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), rather than directly to national institutions or community members. This indirect approach delays funding and dilutes its impact, preventing timely and effective climate action. Therefore, we demand to increase direct funding to national institutions and community-based organisations to enhance local ownership and effectiveness of climate actions.

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