Nepal will strongly voice for climate justice at UN

 Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal has tried to initiate institutional and service-reforms which range from digitalising consular services to creating a vast pool of experts and prospective ambassadors. His activism in the aftermath of the catastrophic Bhotekoshi floods is visible from his bilateral engagements, situation monitoring, and the Foreign Ministry's leading role in information dissemination regarding the rescue and relief efforts. Amidst such a scenario, FM Khanal is attending the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York happening from this week, and Nepal is preparing to raise the issue of climate change impacts and lobby for justice. Ritu Raj Subedi and Modnath Dhakal of The Rising Nepal talked about Nepal's priorities in the post-disaster scenario, managing resources for the reconstruction and issues to be raised at the UNGA. Excerpts:

 

There is a common understanding that the new government has continued the foreign policy adopted by the previous governments. However, some critics have also raised questions about the policy of balance. Would you like to say something about this?

Nepal's foreign policy is guided by the Constitution of Nepal. In a democracy, the Constitution is the supreme law that must be followed by governments that come to power through democratic methods and processes. Nepal's fundamental foreign policy is clearly defined in terms of non-alignment, the Charter of the United Nations, and our multilateral and bilateral relations. So, whichever government comes to power must move forward within the framework of the foreign policy set out in the Constitution. As a democratic party, that is also our understanding. In that sense, it is natural that there is continuity in foreign policy, and I believe there should be such continuity.

 

A few days ago, in your address to the Parliament, you referred to the 'old baggage' arising from political polarisation within the country. How, then, has Nepal's internal political polarisation affected its foreign policy?

Any country's foreign policy must be guided by its national interest. However, over a long period, Nepal's foreign policy and its relationships were largely influenced by internal political and partisan conflicts, and were driven by highly personal or partisan interests. There were also instances where neighbouring countries and other friendly nations were unnecessarily brought into the political game of gaining personal or collective power, and in some cases were unnecessarily criticised or condemned.

Such wrong practices weaken our own national identity and interests. Foreign powers or friendly countries should not be brought into our internal struggles involving personal, partisan or factional interests. In this sense, when we refer to 'old baggage', our understanding is that we will not follow such tendencies and that such practices are wrong.

 

What preparations is the government currently making to attend the United Nations General Assembly?

A Nepali delegation led by the Prime Minister is going to the 81st session of the UNGA, and I will also be part of the delegation. The General Assembly's 'high-level week' will begin on September 22 and will run for about a week. I will be leading a team from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and will be participating from the beginning. Given the current crisis created by the Bhotekoshi disaster, the Prime Minister does not intend to remain outside the country for a long period. However, since the disaster has brought some climate-related critical issues to the fore again, we will internationalise them from the UN platform. The Prime Minister will participate in order to clearly raise issues concerning climate change and climate justice, as well as the impact of climate change on Nepal. He is scheduled to address the General Assembly on September 24.

In addition, I will participate in various sideline events, high-level events and bilateral meetings. Nepal will also raise various issues at the international forum, including those concerning LDCs, of which Nepal is currently a member. We have also applied for an extension in relation to LDC graduation. We will participate in forums related to public health and issues concerning climate change. We are also organising a climate change-related event, "From Sagarmatha to Sea". I will also participate in a high-level event organised by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. In all those deliberations, I will place greater emphasis on Nepal's foreign policy, our engagement with the United Nations, and, given the current disaster situation, the issues of climate change and the crises arising from it.

 

Is the Prime Minister having any sideline meetings with his foreign counterparts?

There has been tremendous interest in the Prime Minister's visit from around the world. For a long time, his counterparts have also been expressing interest informally and indicating that they would like to meet him if time permits. However, given the disaster situation, he will now be travelling only for a short period. Because of his limited time, it appears that we may not be able to arrange many programmes. Since his presence will be brief, I do not think it will be possible to hold many engagements.

 

Nepal has written a letter to the board of the UN's Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage. It has been reported that Nepal's chances of receiving US$20 million under the fund have increased. How close are we to receiving it?

Nepal has been making claims for a long time under the Loss and Damage Fund, which was established under the Paris Agreement. Although Nepal had made claims previously, with the recent claim we have made in connection with the current disaster situation, we are seeing a positive environment emerging based on the information we are receiving. The matter will formally be decided at a board meeting. We believe that the forthcoming board meeting may view Nepal's proposal positively.

 

Prime Minister Balendra Shah has also said that he will raise a strong voice for climate justice. In this regard, what kind of internal mechanisms and other groundwork are we doing to secure the international support we need?

A rapid post-disaster assessment has already been carried out, and it indicates that reconstruction could cost around US$4–5 billion. At present, more than 300 people have been mobilised through the National Planning Commission for the Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA). In a few weeks, we will have a clearer picture of how much will be needed for reconstruction. This will cover both the damage and the loss. Much of the hydropower sector, for example, is in private hands, although some projects are government-owned. Roads and bridges have also been washed away, as have schools and hospitals. So, there will be a need to rebuild public infrastructure as well. Tens of thousands of houses may also have to be rebuilt. This means we will have a major immediate need for resources.

In the short term, our focus is on post-disaster reconstruction, and we are putting a lot of effort into that. But this disaster has also taught us that reconstruction alone will not be enough. Many of our settlements and hydropower projects are located along rivers and streams. We now have to think about how we should rebuild in places where disasters have occurred. For example, in settlements such as Timure and Syafrubesi, and even in Betrawati, we need to consider whether people can safely continue to live there. If a similar accident or disaster happens again in the future, what will we do? We therefore need to rethink reconstruction in a new way.

Meanwhile, we also need to start thinking about other settlements located along our glacial corridors. In the long term, we need to work out how to build a more resilient ecosystem so that, when disasters occur in the future, we do not have to suffer the kind of human and physical losses we are facing today. This is also the message we are giving to the international community. This is not a one-off disaster. Because of climate change, Nepal could face such events regularly in the future. Therefore, the international community also needs to contribute to countries like Nepal that can suffer major and immediate impacts from climate change. Although our contribution to the problem is very small – 0.1 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions - we are having to suffer its negative effects. In that situation, we need the international community's technology, knowledge, know-how and resources not only for immediate reconstruction and rebuilding, but also in the long term for preparedness and mitigation strategies. We are preparing for this accordingly.

 

You mentioned that the assessment is above Rs. 700 billion. After the 2015 Earthquake, Nepal held a donor conference to push forward the reconstruction drive. Have you also considered holding a donor conference for this disaster?

Yes, certainly. We are already moving ahead with preliminary discussions on holding a donor conference. Once the PDNA is completed, we are considering setting a date for the conference.

 

What are the government's main expectations from the UN?

We believe the UN is a strong platform for bringing the suffering we have experienced to the attention of the international community. That is what we are preparing to do. Likewise, regarding the donor conference, we will make particular use of bilateral meetings to prepare for it. Since this disaster occurred, I have spoken by telephone with counterparts from many countries. While I am at the UN, I will meet them as well as foreign ministers and other representatives of friendly countries who will be leading their delegations. We are making preparations for those meetings. Apart from our broader bilateral relations, one important issue we will raise with them is Nepal's reconstruction needs. We will also inform them about the resources we require.

After the UNGA, the COP climate conference will be held in Türkiye. The international community will once again come together there to discuss climate-related issues, and there will be extensive work on climate negotiations. We are preparing for that as well, in parallel.

 

It appears that close cooperation between China and Nepal could help mitigate disasters like the Bhotekoshi floods termed as 'Himalayan Tsunami'. However, some reports in the media have suggested that China did not provide a warning in time. What kind of communication did the government have with China before the disaster occurred?

This is a question I have been asked many times, and I have explained it on several occasions. Nepal and China reached an agreement some time ago to establish a mechanism for sharing hydrological and meteorological data between the two countries. Based on that agreement, we held meetings between the two sides. We had a meeting as recently as April, and after that we exchanged drafts for establishing the mechanism. After the meeting, we sent them a draft incorporating the conclusions we had reached, and we were waiting for their response. We were working very closely on this mechanism, particularly because Nepal is a downstream country. We need to take into account issues such as the possibility of floods in our rivers when there is heavy rainfall upstream.

We were doing intensive work on this mechanism when this major disaster occurred. Even after the disaster, China has been providing us with a great deal of information. They have given us access to satellite and drone images, as well as data, through a portal they have developed themselves. The Chinese side continuously monitored the potential risk areas through satellites and provided us with information and reports twice a day. At present, our Survey Department and our department dealing with climate-related issues are in continuous coordination with them. They are providing us with all the information we need.

That is the short-term aspect. The establishment of a bilateral mechanism for data sharing is also moving forward in parallel.

 

You introduced an open application process for the appointment of ambassadors. But there is a concern that highly competent people may not apply themselves. You may have to actively look for and bring in such people. Doesn't that create some mismatch in the process?

When we called for applications, we actually asked people to recommend suitable candidates rather than simply submit an application. People were also allowed to recommend themselves. We deliberately used language that was slightly different from the traditional idea of submitting an application. However, the general understanding was that this was simply another conventional application process. It was not.

We received around 2,700 CVs, and the process is taking some time as we received CVs of a much higher quality than I had personally expected. When you have to choose from among such strong candidates, the selection process requires careful consideration, both strategically and legally, for the government. We do not want to limit ourselves to a small circle. The reason we kept the process open was that, traditionally, if we had to select someone, we would probably look only within our own networks - people I know, or people known to those I know. By opening the process and asking people to suggest suitable candidates, Nepalis around the world were able to recommend people they considered suitable. As a result, our pool of potential candidates became much broader.

 

Since you took office, how much have you strengthened our missions abroad?

The number of Nepalis living abroad has increased, but the number of staff working at our embassies remains very low. So, in the first phase, we decided through the budget process to close some missions if necessary and increase the number of diplomatic staff in places where we need to provide more services.

A few days ago, we completed a new organisational and management survey, or O&M, and we are now in the process of implementing it. We have just started the work of deploying and transferring staff, including transferring staff from embassies that have been closed to places where there is a greater need. Many of our missions and embassies operate from rented buildings rather than having their own premises. We have started working on that issue as well. We are also working on how to make the services we provide easier and more accessible, including where we don't have our mission. As I have also said in Parliament, there are major countries where Nepali citizens have to take a three- or four-hour flight simply to provide their biometrics for passport applications. These are real difficulties. We are studying alternative ways of making such services more accessible.

Beyond that, we are also working to promote Nepal's long-term interests through stronger engagement with neighbouring countries. If we look particularly at India, Nepal and India have more than 40 bilateral mechanisms. Many of these mechanisms had not met for a long time. But recently, we have seen two or three meetings being held almost every week, sometimes in India and sometimes in Nepal. When these mechanisms become active, they strengthen the institutions themselves. If the mechanisms established for institutional strengthening are functioning properly, the conclusions they reach can provide long-term benefits for Nepal.

Published in The Rising Nepal on 20 September 2026.