BANGKOK, Oct 12: Climate advocates and journalists from South and Southeast Asia have called for COP31 to prioritise Nepal’s recent flood disaster, demanding increased climate finance, stronger adaptation measures and funding to help vulnerable countries recover from climate-related losses and damage.
They urged world leaders to make the 31st UN Climate Change Conference, scheduled to be held in Antalya, Türkiye, a “Nepal COP,” warning that the devastation in Nepal underscored the urgent need to turn global climate commitments into concrete action, particularly for countries least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions but most exposed to climate risks.
The call was made at a regional engagement on transitioning away from fossil fuels in Bangkok, held in connection with Bangkok Climate Action Week 2026. Organised by the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, Oxfam International, Climate Action Network South Asia and Climate Action Network Southeast Asia, the event brought together journalists, government officials and civil society representatives to discuss regional priorities ahead of COP31.
“COP31 must be a ‘Nepal COP.’ It must serve as an urgent wake-up call that we are lagging dangerously behind,” said Harjeet Singh, strategic adviser to the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative and global convener of the Fill the Fund campaign.
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“We must use this tragedy to finally make polluters pay for the damages they have caused, rapidly transition away from fossil fuels, scale up adaptation, and fully fund loss and damage to protect the most vulnerable before it is too late,” he said.
Singh said Nepal’s floods highlighted the consequences of inadequate global action on climate change, arguing that the country had been left with insufficient support from the Loss and Damage Fund to recover from the disaster.
Sharif Jamil, a board member of the Waterkeeper Alliance, said the tragedy reflected the inequalities underlying the climate crisis, with countries in the Global South bearing disproportionate consequences despite their limited contribution to global emissions.
“If COP31 fails to highlight Nepal and ensure the required climate finance in the form of grants, humanity will face disastrous events over and again, while nature will not spare the Global North,” Jamil said.
Jayanta Basu, a senior journalist with India's The Telegraph, said the scale and suddenness of Nepal’s disaster should prompt greater scrutiny of how climate change compounds existing hazards and increases risks for vulnerable communities. He also pointed to delays in climate finance, citing a glacier-monitoring and adaptation project in Nepal for which funding reportedly took years to arrive.
“Timely support at the appropriate time is essential. Otherwise, you are playing with the lives of thousands of people,” he said, warning that India and Bangladesh faced similar climate risks.
Pinaky Roy, an environmental journalist from Bangladesh, said the Himalayas’ growing climate risks extended beyond mountain communities to millions of people across South Asia. Rising temperatures, melting glaciers, glacial lake outburst floods and increasingly unpredictable rainfall threaten lives, livelihoods and infrastructure, he said.
Roy called for climate negotiations to prioritise accessible finance, adaptation, early-warning systems and loss and damage funding, stressing that protecting the Himalayas was crucial to regional water and food security.
Nithi Nesadurai, director and regional coordinator of the Climate Action Network Southeast Asia, said COP31 must translate commitments into concrete action, including stronger measures to keep the 1.5-degree Celsius warming limit within reach, increased adaptation finance and replenishment of the Loss and Damage Fund.
He also called for faster emissions reductions, a transition away from fossil fuels and a just transition mechanism to support affected workers and communities.
The Bangkok gathering also discussed regional priorities ahead of COP31 and the Second Conference on Transitioning Away From Fossil Fuels in Tuvalu. Building on the Santa Marta Conference, participants called for governments to turn the devastation in Nepal into meaningful action on climate finance, adaptation and the transition away from fossil fuels.