While a Nepalese minister has stated that aid to the Himalayan country after natural disasters is not ‘charity’ but a ‘legal and moral liability’ of major greenhouse gas emitters like India and China, the country’s Prime Minister Balen Shah has expressed gratitude to the neighbors for their swift assistance.
Context
Addressing the Parliament on Tuesday, Shah discussed the aftermath of the flash floods that have resulted in over 1,000 deaths and many more missing. He thanked India and China for their help and emphasized their role in the ongoing rescue operation.
The remarks from the Nepalese Prime Minister followed a statement by the country’s Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal, who announced a shift in Nepal's diplomatic stance to claim ‘compensation’ for natural disasters.
““Nepal’s greenhouse gas emissions are virtually negligible. Yet, we are paying the ultimate price for a global crisis we did not create. The rapid melting of glaciers and these catastrophic mountain tsunamis are direct consequences of global climate change,” Khanal said in an interview with The Kathmandu Post.
Developments
Khanal further stated, “We are shifting our diplomatic framework from ‘aid’ to ‘justice and compensation’. This is not a matter of charity; it is a matter of legal and moral liability. The major industrial emitters – such as China, which is the world’s top emitter, the United States at number two, and India at number three – have a historical responsibility to compensate vulnerable nations like Nepal.”
