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Nepal deserves
Climate justice
A riverside town beside a swollen grey river, with rows of buildings destroyed along the bank and forested hills behind.

Nepal deserves climate justice

We did not create this crisis.

We are paying the price.

26 August 2026 / Bhotekoshi and Trishuli

26 August 2026

Nepal was hit by a disaster of extraordinary scale.

A catastrophic flood swept through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems after an ice and rock avalanche in the high Himalayas. Communities were devastated. Homes, roads, bridges and critical infrastructure were destroyed. Thousands of families were displaced, and thousands of people are still missing.

A wide view of a valley town buried in grey silt and boulders, with the river cutting through the middle and a fallen pole in the foreground.
What the water left behind.
1,344
bodies recovered
~5,000
people still missing
~60,000
people displaced
51 km
of road damaged

Figures are provisional and are updated as official information becomes available.

The situation is still developing

This is happening now.

Last updated: 6 September 2026

  • Search and rescue operations are continuing.
  • Official casualty figures remain provisional.
  • Damage assessments are ongoing.
  • Displaced families need shelter, food and clean water.
  • The scientific assessment of the event is not finished.

Sources: Government of Nepal, UN agencies and scientific institutions.

Behind every number is a person.

A concrete building tipped onto its side at the edge of the river, its floors collapsed into each other.
A home at the edge of the new riverbank.
A house submerged up to its roof in a fast moving brown river, with only the top floor and windows above the water.
A house standing in what is now the river.
A yellow school bus half buried in debris beside the shells of damaged buildings.
A school bus in the debris.
An overturned truck lying on its side on a road covered in mud, with a broken national park sign on the ground nearby.
The road out, and the sign that used to mark it.
A thick slab of broken road deck lying at an angle in grey silt, with people standing on top of it and a town in the distance.
A section of road, carried and dropped.
Multi storey buildings left standing on undercut foundations above a bed of grey silt, with one person walking below.
Buildings left standing on what the water did not take.

These are not numbers on a situation report.

They are people whose lives changed in a matter of hours.

What we know

How the water reached the valleys.

  1. 26 August

    Ice and rock avalanche in the high Himalayan region.

  2. The Lhende Khola is temporarily blocked.

    Debris dammed the river and water built up behind it.

  3. The blockage gives way.

    Water and debris were released downstream at once.

  4. Bhotekoshi river.

  5. Trishuli river.

  6. Widespread destruction downstream.

    Settlements, roads and bridges along both river systems were hit.

Scientists are still studying the full chain of events and the role of a warming climate.

The Nepal Health Emergency Operation Centre describes the event as a flash flood following an ice and rock avalanche and the temporary damming of the Lhende Khola.

A green Himalayan valley with a wide grey scar of debris running through it where the river used to be.
The debris field seen from above the valley.

But this story did not begin on 26 August.

Nepal sits at the heart of the Himalayas, one of the world's most climate sensitive regions.

Glaciers are changing. Glacial lakes are growing. Rainfall patterns are shifting. Floods, landslides and other hazards threaten communities, infrastructure and livelihoods.

Nepal has contributed very little to the accumulation of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet its exposure to climate risks is profound.

The world has already heard Nepal's warning

What is happening in this country as a result of climate change is an appalling injustice.

António Guterres

United Nations Secretary-General, Nepal, 31 October 2023

2023

The UN Secretary-General came to Nepal. He saw the glaciers. He warned that the rooftops of the world are caving in.

2026

Nepal was hit by another catastrophic flood. Communities along the Bhotekoshi and the Trishuli are still counting what they lost.

Three years later, Nepal is still asking the world to listen.

Watch the Secretary-General's message

We are not asking for sympathy.

We are asking for justice.

Climate justice means that communities that contributed least to the climate crisis should not be left alone to bear its consequences.

What does Nepal need?

Five things.

01

Resources to adapt

Nepal needs the resources to prepare communities before disasters happen, not only to recover after them.

02

Support for loss and damage

When climate related disasters cause losses that cannot be adapted away, vulnerable countries need meaningful international support.

03

Better early warning

People need enough time to get out of harm's way. In the mountains that time is measured in minutes.

04

Protection of the Himalayas

The Himalayas are not only a Nepali issue. Their rivers and ecosystems matter across Asia.

05

Global responsibility

Countries with greater historical responsibility and greater capacity must do more.

Read the evidence

Listen to Nepal

The people who were there.

We are recording interviews in the affected districts. Quotes will appear here as people give them, in their own words and with their permission. We will not publish anything we have not been told.

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Nepal has a message for the world.

In September, Nepal takes its concerns to the United Nations.

We hope the world listens.

Climate justice is bigger than one speech, one government or one moment. It is about the people who will live with the consequences.

Our message to the world

Nepal deserves climate justice.

We did not create this crisis.

We are paying the price.

Stand with Nepal.

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