A riverside town beside a swollen grey river, with rows of buildings destroyed along the bank and forested hills behind.

Nepal deserves climate justice

We did not create this crisis.

We are paying the price.

26 August 2026 / Bhotekoshi and Trishuli

26 August 2026

Nepal was hit by a disaster of extraordinary scale.

A catastrophic flood swept through the Bhotekoshi and Trishuli river systems after an ice and rock avalanche in the high Himalayas. Communities were devastated. Homes, roads, bridges and critical infrastructure were destroyed. Thousands of families were displaced, and thousands of people are still missing.

A wide view of a valley town buried in grey silt and boulders, with the river cutting through the middle and a fallen pole in the foreground. — What the water left behind.

1,344: bodies recovered
~5,000: people still missing
~60,000: people displaced
51 km: of road damaged

Figures last checked by a person on: 2026-09-08

These figures are provisional. They are checked against official and published reporting by hand, and the date of the last check is shown above.

The situation is still developing

This is happening now.

Last updated: 6 September 2026

Search and rescue operations are continuing.
Official casualty figures remain provisional.
Damage assessments are ongoing.
Displaced families need shelter, food and clean water.
The scientific assessment of the event is not finished.

Sources: Government of Nepal, UN agencies and scientific institutions.

Behind every number is a person.

A concrete building tipped onto its side at the edge of the river, its floors collapsed into each other. — A home at the edge of the new riverbank.

A house submerged up to its roof in a fast moving brown river, with only the top floor and windows above the water. — A house standing in what is now the river.

A yellow school bus half buried in debris beside the shells of damaged buildings. — A school bus in the debris.

An overturned truck lying on its side on a road covered in mud, with a broken national park sign on the ground nearby. — The road out, and the sign that used to mark it.

A thick slab of broken road deck lying at an angle in grey silt, with people standing on top of it and a town in the distance. — A section of road, carried and dropped.

Multi storey buildings left standing on undercut foundations above a bed of grey silt, with one person walking below. — Buildings left standing on what the water did not take.

These are not numbers on a situation report.

They are people whose lives changed in a matter of hours.

What we know

How the water reached the valleys.

26 August
Ice and rock avalanche in the high Himalayan region.
The Lhende Khola is temporarily blocked.
Debris dammed the river and water built up behind it.
The blockage gives way.
Water and debris were released downstream at once.
Bhotekoshi river.
Trishuli river.
Widespread destruction downstream.
Settlements, roads and bridges along both river systems were hit.

Scientists are still studying the full chain of events and the role of a warming climate.

The Nepal Health Emergency Operation Centre describes the event as a flash flood following an ice and rock avalanche and the temporary damming of the Lhende Khola.

The same border region, two days apart

What the mountain did.

Two satellites passed over the Himalayan border region where this began. The first image was taken two days before the flood. The second was taken on the day itself, and the flood water and debris are marked on it. The two passes are at slightly different scales, so both are shown whole rather than cropped to match.

Satellite image of the high Himalayan valley two days before the flood. — The valley on 24 August 2026, before the event.Copernicus Sentinel-2

Satellite image of the same Himalayan valley on the day of the flood, showing the changed river course. — The same valley on 26 August 2026.US Landsat-9 mission

Both images come from public earth observation missions and are credited to them. No before and after image on this site is generated or altered.

A green Himalayan valley with a wide grey scar of debris running through it where the river used to be. — The debris field seen from above the valley.

But this story did not begin on 26 August.

Nepal sits at the heart of the Himalayas, one of the world's most climate sensitive regions.

Glaciers are changing. Glacial lakes are growing. Rainfall patterns are shifting. Floods, landslides and other hazards threaten communities, infrastructure and livelihoods.

Nepal has contributed very little to the accumulation of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet its exposure to climate risks is profound.

Nepal's share

Nepal did almost none of this.

The warming that is changing the Himalayas was caused by carbon dioxide put into the atmosphere over more than two centuries. This is how much of it came from Nepal.

All carbon dioxide emitted worldwide since 1751

Nepal, 0.01%

0.01%: of all the carbon dioxide emitted since 1751 came from Nepal; Our World in Data
0.05%: of world carbon dioxide emissions in 2024; Our World in Data, 2024
0.63 t: carbon dioxide per person in Nepal in a year; Our World in Data, 2024

Figures from Our World in Data, based on the Global Carbon Budget. The bar above shows all carbon dioxide emitted since 1751; the mark at its left is Nepal, drawn to scale rather than enlarged to be visible.

Our World in Data: Nepal

The world has already heard Nepal's warning

What is happening in this country as a result of climate change is an appalling injustice and a searing indictment of the fossil fuel age.

António Guterres

United Nations Secretary-General, addressing the Parliament of Nepal, Kathmandu, 31 October 2023

2023

The UN Secretary-General came to Nepal. He saw the glaciers. He warned that the rooftops of the world are caving in.

2026

Nepal was hit by another catastrophic flood. Communities along the Bhotekoshi and the Trishuli are still counting what they lost.

Three years later, Nepal is still asking the world to listen.

Read the full address on un.org

We are not asking for sympathy.

We are asking for justice.

Climate justice means that communities that contributed least to the climate crisis should not be left alone to bear its consequences.

What does Nepal need?

Five things.

Resources to adapt

Nepal needs the resources to prepare communities before disasters happen, not only to recover after them.

Support for loss and damage

When climate related disasters cause losses that cannot be adapted away, vulnerable countries need meaningful international support.

Better early warning

People need enough time to get out of harm's way. In the mountains that time is measured in minutes.

Protection of the Himalayas

The Himalayas are not only a Nepali issue. Their rivers and ecosystems matter across Asia.

Global responsibility

Countries with greater historical responsibility and greater capacity must do more.

Read the evidence

Listen to Nepal

The people who were there.

We are recording interviews in the affected districts. Quotes will appear here as people give them, in their own words and with their permission. We will not publish anything we have not been told.

Stand with Nepal

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Where support has come from

Nepal17,001
India950
United States640
United Kingdom380
Australia310
Germany195
Canada180
Japan150
United Arab Emirates130
Qatar115
Malaysia105
South Korea95
France85
Netherlands75
Saudi Arabia60
Singapore40

Bars are sized against the largest country, not against the total.

Voices from around the world

What people are saying.

Anisa Chaulagain
Nepal
I support this campaign

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Nepal speaks at the United Nations.

Nepal addresses the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 24 September, and is expected to raise the floods and the climate.

One speech is not justice. It is a hearing.

What matters is what the countries listening decide to do afterwards, and whether the people still clearing silt out of Rasuwa are any better off for it.

Our message to the world