Nepal’s devastating flash floods were a warning of the growing dangers of climate change in the Himalayas, Prime Minister Balendra Shah told the United Nations on Friday, calling for greater international action to protect vulnerable mountain communities.

Speaking at the UN General Assembly in New York, four weeks after the disaster, Shah said the Bhotekoshi-Trisuli floods were more than a national tragedy. They were a warning of the risks posed by a warming climate.

“The Bhotekoshi-Trisuli disaster was not just a local tragedy, it was a warning to the world,” Shah said.

At least 1,400 people were killed and more than 6,000 remained missing, according to figures cited by Shah. He said a rapid assessment had put Nepal’s physical recovery needs at about 10 per cent of gross domestic product.

Shah said rising temperatures were destabilising the Himalayas, increasing the risks of ice and rock avalanches, floods and landslides.

“Melting permafrost is fracturing mountain slopes beneath the glaciers and accelerating the risks of ice-rock avalanches, floods, landslides and other cascading hazards,” he said.

The disaster affected communities on both sides of the Nepal-China border before floodwaters continued downstream towards India, he said.

“Climate change does not recognise borders,” Shah said. “Glaciers and floods do not travel with a visa stamped on passports.”

Nepal contributes less than 0.1 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Shah said, arguing that the country was bearing a disproportionate cost from a crisis to which it had contributed little.

“We did not create this crisis. Yet we are paying a colossal price for it,” he said.

He pointed to retreating glaciers, increasingly unstable mountain slopes and less predictable rivers, saying climate change was becoming a threat to Nepal’s development.

“For Nepal, climate catastrophe is not just a humanitarian event, but a development emergency,” Shah said.

Floods and other disasters destroy roads, bridges, schools, homes, farms and livelihoods, while also damaging clean-energy infrastructure.

“Every major disaster threatens to erase years of development,” he said.

Shah called for greater international support for countries vulnerable to climate disasters, saying existing financing mechanisms were inadequate.

“When a climate-driven disaster destroys the infrastructure of a poor country, the answer cannot simply be another mega loan or a patchwork of small grants,” he said.

He called for greater grant-based support through mechanisms including the Loss and Damage Fund and the Global Environment Facility.

Shah proposed a “Himalayan Climate Resilience Mechanism” involving Nepal, India and China to strengthen cooperation on climate and disaster risks.

The mechanism would share satellite data and technical expertise, monitor dangerous glacial lakes, strengthen early-warning systems and coordinate cross-border assistance during disasters, he said.

The Hindu Kush Himalaya is home to nearly two billion people and provides water, ecosystems, agriculture and livelihoods far beyond Nepal, Shah said.

“The Himalayas are not peripheral to the planet. They are part of the planet’s life-support system,” he said.

Nepal was already expanding forest cover, hydropower and electric mobility while strengthening climate adaptation at the local level, Shah said.

But he warned that Nepal could not build resilience alone.

The floods should prompt a shift from emergency response towards preparedness as extreme weather becomes more frequent and severe, he said.

“Our baselines are no longer relevant, and we must move from ad hoc responses to a culture of preparedness,” Shah said.

He called for investment in resilient infrastructure, insurance, innovation and early-warning systems, alongside efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

“Let us build systems that warn, alert, and save lives,” he said.

Shah ended his address with a call for the international community to heed warnings from the Himalayas.

“And when the next warning comes from the rooftop of the world, let us be ready to hear it and ready to act,” he said.