Kathmandu/New Delhi: Following the August 26 flash floods in Nepal that have killed over 1,200 people and left nearly 4,000 missing, Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal has called for climate compensation from the United States, China and India. Triggered by a massive rock and ice collapse near the Nepal-Tibet border, the floods destroyed homes, bridges and hydropower infrastructure across the affected areas.
Because climate change did not begin in the past few years, that distinction is important. Scientists assessing historical responsibility look at cumulative emissions or the total amount of greenhouse gases a country has released over a long period. The CO2 released since the Industrial Revolution has contributed to the rise in temperatures across the planet.
Data cited by the United Nations Environment Programme for the period from 1850 to 2022 shows how different the picture looks when cumulative emissions are considered. A 2026 study on climate research found that about 93 per cent of researchers involved in top climate research come from developed countries. Putting it in exactly the same historical category as the United States and China therefore does not fit the cumulative emissions data. Much of the world’s expertise, data infrastructure and research capacity is therefore concentrated in countries that also have a major role in talks on historical emissions and climate finance.
Countries such as Nepal need stronger research capacity of their own. Local scientific institutions can document changes in glaciers, rainfall, floods, temperatures and other climate risks. This evidence can help establish the scale and nature of the losses they face. India’s own climate research infrastructure has also struggled in recent years. A report titled ‘India losing ability to build its own instruments: climate science report’ has highlighted problems surrounding the country’s ability to develop and maintain its own scientific instruments and research capabilities.
