Nepal puts climate justice at centre of global pitch for flood aid

Flood-hit Nepal will ask wealthier countries and global agencies for financial help this week, arguing they should contribute to the $5 billion needed for initial rebuilding as the disaster shows how climate change has hit poor countries that did little to cause it, officials said.



Since the collapse of a Himalayan glacier in late August caused devastation in the valleys below, at least 1,300 people have been confirmed dead and more than 5,300 are missing across Nepal and China's Tibet region.



The torrent also swept away more than 12 hydropower plants, cross-border trade routes, roads, bridges, houses and other infrastructure in Nepal, which bore the brunt of it.



Nepal's initial estimate for funds covers the first phase of recovery over the next five months and will be shared with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, along with the embassies of countries and blocs including the United States, Britain, India, China, Japan and the European Union, Nepal's disaster

management chief Dharam Raj Uprety told Reuters.