Kathmandu, Oct 23: The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) has approved a grant of 20 million US dollars, approximately three billion rupees, to Nepal for relief and reconstruction efforts following severe flooding in the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river regions.
This decision was made during a special meeting of the fund, as reported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forest and Environment. The Nepal government had formally requested assistance on August 31 to address the significant human and economic toll of the floods, which affected over 60,000 individuals across approximately 15,000 households.
Dr. Maheshwar Dhakal, joint secretary at the ministry, indicated that extensive discussions among board members from both developed and developing nations facilitated the approval of Nepal’s request.
To access the funds, Nepal is required to submit a detailed project proposal aimed at supporting the flood-impacted communities. Preliminary assessments reveal that the floods resulted in around 1,500 fatalities and left over 5,000 individuals missing, with initial economic damages estimated at 2.7 billion US dollars.
The total reconstruction costs are projected to reach 4.7 billion US dollars. The fund’s decision is seen as a crucial step in addressing the vulnerabilities of developing countries to climate-related disasters and is expected to advance the implementation of climate justice initiatives.
The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) represents a UNFCCC-mandated financial instrument that was established during COP27 proceedings and subsequently operationalized at COP28 to provide assistance to economically vulnerable developing nations confronting climate-related economic and non-economic losses.
