Seven-year delay on Himalayan flood protection project highlights failures of international climate finance
28 August 2026 - Kathmandu: Friends of Earth Asia Pacific has condemned the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for taking seven years to approve a project designed to protect communities in Nepal from increasingly dangerous Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs), warning that the delay exposes a critical failure in the international climate finance system.
The devastating Bhotekoshi flash flood of 26 August has brought into sharp focus the consequences of failing to act quickly enough on escalating climate and cryosphere risks in the Himalayas.
The GCF project, aimed at reducing the risks and impacts of GLOFs in Nepal, was reportedly in the Fund's pipeline in 2018 but was not approved until July 2025.
Friends of Earth Asia Pacific says the delay is unacceptable given the rapidly escalating risks facing Himalayan communities.
"It is absolutely shocking that the Green Climate Fund took seven years to approve a project aimed at protecting communities, infrastructure and ecosystems from increasing Glacial Lake Outburst Flood risks caused by human-induced climate change," said Meena Raman, Climate Justice spokesperson for Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific.
"The project was in the GCF pipeline in 2018 but only got approved in July 2025. Had it been approved much earlier, early warning systems and other measures could at least have been in place to minimise the devastating impacts. This must not happen again. Time is of the essence when climate finance is intended to save lives."
The organisation said the tragedy demonstrates that climate finance cannot continue to move at a pace that is disconnected from the speed of the climate crisis.
Friends of Earth Asia Pacific is calling on the GCF and developed-country governments that govern and fund international climate finance institutions to urgently accelerate funding for climate adaptation, disaster preparedness and resilience in vulnerable countries.
The GCF must answer for the delay
The Green Climate Fund is the world's largest dedicated multilateral climate fund, established under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to support developing countries in reducing emissions and adapting to climate change.
Yet, Friends of Earth Asia Pacific says the experience of Nepal raises fundamental questions about whether the Fund is delivering climate finance at the speed and scale required by communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis.
A project specifically designed to address GLOF risks in Nepal remained in the GCF pipeline for seven years before approval.
"Climate change is accelerating, but climate finance is moving far too slowly," said Meena Raman.
"For communities living below unstable glaciers and glacial lakes, seven years is not an administrative delay. It can be the difference between having an early-warning system and facing a disaster without adequate protection."
The organisation said the GCF must urgently review the processes that have allowed critical adaptation projects to remain in the pipeline for years and establish mechanisms to prioritise projects addressing immediate and escalating climate risks.
It also called for the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD) to urgently provide financial assistance for rescue, recovery and reconstruction following the Bhotekoshi disaster.
"The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage must also urgently respond with the financial assistance needed for rescue and recovery," said Raman.
"Developed-country board members of these funds must not delay action that can save lives. Immediate scaling up of resources for both adaptation and loss and damage is critical."
Nepal's communities cannot wait for another warning
Friends of Earth Asia Pacific expressed its deepest condolences to families who have lost loved ones, those still searching for missing relatives, survivors who have lost homes and livelihoods, and the Nepal Army, Nepal Police, local authorities, emergency responders and civil society members continuing rescue and relief operations.
The full scale of the catastrophe is still emerging, with hundreds reportedly missing and extensive destruction of settlements and critical infrastructure across Rasuwa, Nuwakot and downstream areas. Roads, bridges, hydropower facilities, communications systems, transmission lines, vehicles, businesses and border infrastructure have been damaged or swept away.
"We mourn those who have been lost and stand with the families still waiting for their loved ones. But this catastrophe must also become a national and international wake-up call," said Puspa Dewy, Convenor of Friends of Earth Asia Pacific.
The organisation said the precise sequence of events behind the 26 August disaster must be established through an independent scientific investigation. Preliminary assessments have raised the possibility of an ice avalanche, rock fall or debris avalanche temporarily blocking the Lhende River and triggering a sudden surge of water and debris. A glacial lake outburst flood is also being investigated.
The reported absence of substantial rainfall immediately before the event highlights the increasingly complex and cascading hazards emerging from a rapidly changing Himalayan cryosphere.
The disaster follows the July 2025 Bhotekoshi/Lhende flood, which Nepal's Department of Hydrology and Meteorology attributed to a glacial lake outburst near the Nepal-China border. The 2024 Thame disaster in the Everest region provided another warning, when a rock avalanche entering a glacial lake generated a displacement wave that breached the lake and released an estimated 156,000 cubic metres of water.
"The mountains have warned us. The rivers have warned us. The scientists have warned us. The people have warned us," said Prakash Dahal of Friends of the Earth Nepal.
"Nepal and the international community must now act before the next warning becomes another catastrophe."
From delayed finance to permanent protection
Friends of Earth Asia Pacific is calling on the Government of Nepal to establish a National Himalayan Cryosphere and GLOF Risk Monitoring and Early Warning Mission, with permanent institutional status, dedicated financing and coordination among government agencies, scientific institutions, universities, security agencies and local governments.
The system should include:
continuous satellite monitoring of glaciers and glacial lakes;
high-resolution hazard mapping;
automatic lake- and river-level monitoring;
meteorological, seismic and hydrological observations;
ground sensors and cameras;
monitoring of moraine dams, ice cliffs and unstable slopes;
comprehensive identification and ranking of potentially dangerous glacial lakes; and
24-hour scientific monitoring during periods of heightened risk.
Nepal's existing scientific assessments demonstrate the scale of the challenge. An ICIMOD-UNDP inventory identified 2,070 glacial lakes in Nepal across the Koshi, Gandaki and Karnali basins, including lakes assessed as potentially dangerous.
GLOF and cryosphere hazard maps should become legally enforceable instruments of land-use planning. No major infrastructure should be approved in identified high-risk corridors without rigorous multi-hazard assessments, while existing settlements and infrastructure in extreme-risk areas should be assessed for strengthening, protection or phased relocation.
Climate finance must match the climate emergency
Friends of Earth Asia Pacific also called on governments, UN agencies, humanitarian organisations, development institutions, climate funds and civil society worldwide to provide immediate humanitarian assistance and long-term climate finance to Nepal.
The calls follow the Cryosphere Change, River Systems, and Youth Engagement in Nepal and the Asia-Pacific Region Conference, organised by Friends of Earth Asia Pacific and Friends of the Earth Nepal/Pro Public at Nagarkot on 17 July 2026.
The conference brought together scientists, government officials, researchers, environmentalists, lawyers, rights activists, mountaineers, journalists, youth and Friends of the Earth representatives from across Asia and the Pacific to examine climate impacts on the Himalayas, including the growing risks of GLOFs.
The conference's Nagarkot Call for Action on Climate Justice warned of accelerating Himalayan ice loss and destabilisation.
Friends of Earth Asia Pacific said the Bhotekoshi disaster must mark a shift from reactive disaster response to proactive climate adaptation, backed by accessible, predictable and timely international finance.
Because Himalayan hazards cross national boundaries, Nepal should also establish a permanent Nepal-China mechanism for real-time sharing of cryosphere, hydrological and meteorological information, including immediate notification of major avalanches, landslides, ice falls and glacial-lake changes; satellite imagery; emergency warnings; joint scientific investigations; and regular disaster-response exercises.
Nepal should make climate adaptation and resilience central to national development planning. Roads, bridges, hydropower projects, transmission lines, settlements, airports and tourism infrastructure must be designed for future climate and cryosphere conditions rather than historical risks.
Dedicated financing is also needed for GLOF preparedness, including monitoring, early-warning systems, protective infrastructure, relocation, ecosystem restoration, emergency communications and community preparedness.
"There can be no more excuses or delays from developed countries in meeting their obligations under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement," said Raman.
"The communities most vulnerable to climate change cannot be expected to wait years for finance while glaciers destabilise and climate hazards intensify. Budgetary constraints cannot be an excuse when the most vulnerable are paying the price for a crisis driven overwhelmingly by historical emissions."
