China, the United States and India, the top industrial emitters of carbon dioxide, have a “historical responsibility to compensate” Nepal as it deals with the consequences of climate change, the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Shisir Khanal was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post on Tuesday.The statement came five days after a flash flood in the Rasuwa district along Nepal’s northern border with China, which has killed 1,003 persons. Of these, 987 deaths were reported in Nepal. The remaining 16 deaths were on the Chinese side of the border. Nearly 4,500 persons are missing, reported AFP.The United States Geological Survey has said that the floods were caused by a glacial collapse that sent a wall of water and debris downstream. As there was no rainfall in the area, residents did not have a warning about the deluge.In an interview to Kantipur TV, Khanal described the disaster as a “catastrophic mountain tsunami”, which he said was a direct consequence of global climate change, reported The Kathmandu Post.“Nepal’s greenhouse gas emissions are virtually negligible,” the minister was quoted as saying. “Yet, we are paying the ultimate price for a global crisis we did not create.”In 2024, China accounted for 33.1% of the global carbon emissions, according to data from the Worldometer tracker. The US was in second spot, accounting for 11.7% of the emissions. India’s global share of emissions was 8%.Nepal accounted for only 0.04% of global emissions.In view of this, Kathmandu was shifting its “diplomatic framework from ‘aid’ to ‘justice and compensation’, said Khanal.“This is not a matter of charity; it is a matter of legal and moral liability,” he added.The minister said that Kathmandu had dispatched a climate compensation claim to its international partners, without specifying the countries.“We will be raising this issue with absolute firmness and clarity at every upcoming international forum,” he was quoted as saying by The Kathmandu Post. “This is a matter of civilisational survival.”Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.Also read: Nepal: Warming may have induced glacial floods, but the damage downstream is manmadeThe day after catastrophic flash flood, Nepal contemplates enormous cost of climate change