Balendra Shah UN speech: Full transcript of Nepal prime minister’s address to the 81st UN General Assembly
Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s full UN speech on the Bhotekoshi floods, climate justice, Himalayan cooperation, climate finance and reform of the global order.RSS
I come before you from Nepal - a distant country in the Himalayas- carrying a close warning for humanity.
I wish I could stand here today simply to speak about development,democracy, peace and the hopes of a young nation.
Instead, I must speak about death and destruction of epicproportions.
About families waiting for loved ones who will never come home.
About communities searching through mud, rocks and water forpeople whose bodies may never be recovered.
About bridges, roads, schools, homes and livelihoods swept away inminutes.
And about a country whose steady progress to achieve SustainableDevelopment Goals has been interrupted.
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Four weeks ago, the world saw the shocking images of thecatastrophic flash floods that swept through Nepal’s mountain communities withferocity many have called a “Himalayan Tsunami.”
The Bhotekoshi-Trishuli disaster was not just a local tragedy,it was a warning to the world.
And I ask you today: have we really heard that warning?
Nearly three years ago, standing in the shadow of our MountEverest, the Secretary-General of the United Nations warned humanity about themadness of an impending climate disaster.
That cry from the rooftop of the world was not heard loudlyenough.
We in Nepal heard it. Our communities heard it.
Scientists around the world heard it. They repeated it withevidence.
But we, the political leaders of the world, have been negligent totranslate those warnings into action at the speed and scale that vulnerable peoplerequire.
Last month, we saw the tragic consequences.
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A warming climate is destabilizing the fragile Himalayan ecology.
Melting permafrost are fracturing mountain slopes beneath theglaciers and accelerating the risks of ice-rock avalanche, floods, landslidesand other cascading hazards.
The resulting devastation unleashed havoc on both sides of theNepal-China border. The flood continued downstream towards India.
This tells us something fundamental:
Climate change does not recognize borders.
Glaciers and floods do not travel with a visa stamped onpassports.
Excellencies,
I am not here to complain but to share some suggestions.
First, I wish to express Nepal's deep gratitude to all those whocame to our aid in the aftermath of the deluge.
Our immediate neighbors, India and China, offered prompt andgenerous assistance.
Other friendly countries, the United Nations system, humanitarianagencies, philanthropies and people around the world stood with Nepal.
To all of them, I say: thank you on behalf of the gratefulpeople of Nepal.
Nepal now faces a massive task of recovery and reconstruction.
After at least 1400 confirmed deaths and over 6,000 people stillmissing, our rapid assessments peg physical recovery needs at about 10 percentof GDP.
As in rebuilding after past disasters like the 2015 Gorkhaearthquake, we count on your solidarity and support.
But we must also understand why this disaster matters beyondNepal.
Nepal contributes less than 0.1 percent of globalgreenhouse-gas emissions.
We did not create this crisis. Yet we are paying a colossal pricefor it.
Our glaciers are retreating. Our mountain slopes are becomingunstable. Our rivers are becoming less predictable.
And every major disaster threatens to erase years of development.
For Nepal, climate catastrophe is not just a humanitarian event,but adevelopment emergency.
It destroys roads, bridges, schools, homes, farms and livelihoods.
It destroys clean energy infrastructure that we need to fuel ourfuture.
And it forces a poor country to borrow money to repair damage itdid not cause.
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But we are not here to blame any country or continent.
We are not here to turn climate change into another geopoliticalbattlefield.
We are here to ask everyone to recommit to shared responsibilityand solidarity.
Through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,the international community has already agreed to the principle of commonbut differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities.
Those who have historically contributed more to the problem, andthose with greater capacity to respond, must do more.
Climate Justice cannot just remain a beautiful phrase in a UnitedNations Document.
People of our country be allowed to build their future instead ofconstantly rebuilding their past.
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Excellencies,
The Hindu Kush Himalaya is home to nearly two billionpeople.These mountains provide water, ecosystems, agriculture and livelihoods topopulations far beyond Nepal.
The Himalayas are not peripheral to the planet. They are part ofthe planet's life-support system.
That is why, as an urgent first step, we propose that weestablish a Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism, led by Nepal, India andChina.
Through this mechanism, let us share satellite data and expertise.
Let us monitor dangerous glacial lakes.
Let us strengthen joint early-warning systems.
And when disaster strikes, let us coordinate assistance acrossborders.
Let the Himalayas become a laboratory of internationalcooperation, rather than a frontier of fragmented information.
Remarkable for a least developed country, Nepal is already playinga global role exceeding its ecological share.
We have restored forests to cover nearly half our territory.
We are installing hydro power at a pace enough to power all ourclean energy needs and displace dirty sources abroad.
We are promoting electric mobility with an adoption rate to matchparts of Europe.
We are strengthening climate adaptation at the local level. And weshall do more to withstand increased intensity and frequency of climatedisasters.
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But, Nepal cannot build resilience alone against a crisis madeworse by the failure of global governance.
That is why this Assembly must note six words:
Relief. Rehabilitation. Reconstruction.
And also:
Responsibility. Reparation. Resilience.
The first three are what we need after disaster.
The second three are what we need to ensure that disaster does notbecome a permanent condition.
When a climate-driven disaster destroys the infrastructure of apoor country, the answer cannot simply be another mega loan or a patchwork ofsmall grants.
We need adequate grant-based support from the world. TheLoss and Damage Fund, the Global Environment Facility and other relevantfinancing mechanisms remain grossly inadequate.
Climate finance must not become a bureaucratic maze through whichvulnerable countries spend years proving that they need help.
When the house is burning, we do not ask the family to completefifty forms.
We act.
That is what climate justice must mean.
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Excellencies,
This brings me to a larger question:
What kind of international order do we want?
The United Nations was born from humanity's experience of horrificWorld Wars.
Its promise was that sovereignty would matter.
International law would matter.
The dignity of every human being would matter.
And the weak would not simply have to accept whatever the powerfuldecide.
Today, that international system is under strain.
Too often, military and economic power determines whose voice isheard.
Nepal believes we need a much fairer global economic order.
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In 1994, UNDP’s Human Development Report conceptualized the notionof human insecurity.
It equated security with people rather than territories, and withdevelopment rather than arms. It called for the peace dividend to secure freedomsfrom fear and want.
The new majoritygovernment in Nepal, elected through the fairest and most peaceful electionsin our history this March, has had to weather many international adversitiessince.
When a poorfarmer in Nepal went to sow her seeds this monsoon, fertilizers didn’t reachher on time. When we wanted to pave a new highway, there was no bitumen. When afamily sat down for an evening meal, there was shortage of cooking fuel.
On the one hand,there are melting glaciers and failing harvests to floods arriving withoutwarning. On the other, a global supply chain punishes poor people for causesbeyond reason.
Inter-continentalmissiles arrive on time. Rifles and ammunition cross borders, clear everybottleneck, meet each deadline. But a peasant in Nepal cannot procure hisfertilizer or fuel at market price at a time of need.
We have built aworld with flawless logistics for war and broken logistics for food.
And this is not Nepal's privatemisfortune. Ask Bangladesh. Ask Bhutan. Ask India. Ask the Maldives. AskPakistan. Ask Sri Lanka.Ask any othercountry in our region and you will hear the same account: hit by the climatewe did not warm, and hit again by the wars we did not start.
This tells usthere is a lot more broken than meets the eye in the present order of globalcooperation.
Excellencies,
I am told I am the youngest Head ofGovernment to address this Assembly this year.
I did not come here to make thatthe story.
I came to make sure that whatever elseis said from this podium, one thing is said plainly: a country that iswilling to pay should be able to buy, and a world that can deliver a weaponanywhere in seventy-two hours has no excuse for leaving a farmer without meansfor a decent livelihood.
This is why we continue to believe in multilateralism. This is whywe need a United Nations in which the presence of small poor countries is felt,and we can work together towards just outcomes.
Climate justice is, therefore, not only about money.
It is about distributive justice - who bears the costs.
It is about procedural justice - who has a voice.
It is about whether the future of mountain communities, smallisland states, landlocked and least-developed countries, and generations yetunborn count equally.
Starting tomorrow at the “Sagarmatha to the Sea” side-event righthere at the United Nations, Nepal is ready to help lead this conversation.
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Mr. President & Excellencies,
We are at this GeneralAssembly at a moment of profound global uncertainty — and with a reneweddemocratic mandate that reflects the aspirations of a new generation.
Our youth have demandeda politics of integrity and accountability.
This generational shiftis not only a national story. It is part of a global awakening againstconflicts, inequities, and lack of opportunities.
The commitment of mygovernment is clear: to build a state that delivers — decent jobs, socialprotection, and a fair chance for every Nepali to thrive at home.
The Nepal floods signala future shaped by rising climate extremes. Our baselines are no longerrelevant. And we must move from ad-hoc responses to a culture ofpreparedness.
Let us finance resilience, and invest in insurance and innovation.
Let us build stronger infrastructure and institutions.
Let us reduce fossil-fuel dependence.
Let us build systems that warn, alert and save lives.
Let us reform the order that leaves the weakest with the leastpower.
And when the next warning comes from the rooftop of the world:
16.42°C Kathmandu
