The Nepalese government has classified the recent massive floods as a disaster driven by climate change, urging the international community to take action and demanding compensation from the world's major greenhouse gas-emitting nations.

According to AFP on the 1st local time, Nepalese Prime Minister Balendra Shah stated on social media late the previous night, "It is time for us to strongly raise the issue of the disasters we are facing as a consequence of climate change to the international community."

He said the floods were "not ordinary floods" and described them as "a major disaster for this region."

He added, "This has shown that the risks we face in the Himalayan region are growing alongside climate change," emphasizing that "therefore, this region must remain on high alert."

In connection with this, Nepalese Foreign Minister Sisir Khanal said in a local TV interview, "Even though Nepal's greenhouse gas emissions are practically negligible, we are paying the ultimate price for a global crisis we did not cause," adding that the government has sent official letters demanding climate compensation to international partners.

Minister Khanal called the massive floods a "Himalayan tsunami" with waves reaching 20 to 30 meters and moving at tornado-like speeds of 180 km/h, stating that it was "a disaster of unprecedented scale in Nepal's history."

He further evaluated that "the rapid melting of glaciers and such destructive mountain tsunamis are the direct consequences of global climate change."

Minister Khanal pointed out that "major industrial nations and greenhouse gas emitters such as China, the world's largest emitter, the United States, the second, and India, the third, bear a historical responsibility to compensate vulnerable countries like Nepal."

Accordingly, he stated that the framework of related diplomacy is shifting from "aid" to "justice and compensation," declaring that "this is a matter of legal and moral responsibility, not charity."

He also warned that in all future international arenas, "we will raise this issue with absolute firmness and clarity."

Minister Khanal emphasized, "If the Himalayan glaciers disappear, the water security of more than 2 billion people in South Asia who depend on rivers such as the Ganges and Trishuli will be permanently threatened," adding, "We are raising this issue not just for Nepal, but for the survival of the entire South Asian civilization."

Although Nepal, a rural nation with a population of 30 million, accounts for a negligible share of global greenhouse gas emissions compared to major industrialized countries, the recent massive floods have highlighted it as one of the countries hardest hit by climate change.

The Himalayan, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush mountain ranges, stretching approximately 3,500 kilometers from Myanmar to Afghanistan, supply water to ten major rivers in Asia, including the Yangtze, Ganges, and Mekong rivers, through roughly 63,700 glaciers.

Consequently, an estimated 2 billion people, including those in China and India, depend on the water resources and electricity generated from the glaciers in this region.

However, according to the United Nations, the rate of Himalayan glacier loss from 2010 to 2020 was 65% faster than in the previous decade.

It was also projected that the risk of glacial lake outburst floods across the Himalayan, Karakoram, and Hindu Kush mountain ranges will increase about threefold by the end of the 21st century.

In this regard, Arvindra Khadka, a glaciologist at Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, Nepal, warned the U.S. daily The New York Times (NYT) that the Himalayan glaciers are melting by about 1 meter each year, stating, "The entire Himalayas are melting."

Tul Singh Gurung, president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, also stated that snow and ice are disappearing across the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges, noting, "The mountains are turning black."

"All mountains are facing rockfall problems," he added.

As snow and ice disappear from all mountains, including Mount Everest (8,848m), the highest peak in the world, existing climbing routes are changing, and casualties among mountaineers are surging.

In fact, Gurung emphasized that the avalanche on Broad Peak (8,047m) in late July, which claimed the lives of 10 people including renowned Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja (43), is concerning because it occurred in an area previously considered a relatively stable climbing route.