Nepal urges grant-based climate finance and faster disbursement, not loans

Prime Minister Belindra Sha told the United Nations General Assembly that when climate-driven disasters devastate poor countries, the international response must prioritize grants and rapid disbursement rather than loans or cumbersome procedures.

"When the house is burning, we do not ask family to complete 50 forms. We act," Sha said, criticizing what he described as an inadequate and bureaucratic international finance system. He called the loss-and-damage fund, the Global Environment Facility and other mechanisms "grossly inadequate" for the scale of need and urged donors and institutions to simplify access to grant finance.

Sha argued that grant-based support is essential to prevent climate-driven disasters from trapping vulnerable countries in cycles of debt and reconstruction, and he urged the assembly to adopt financing practices that deliver timely assistance.