United Nations: Climate-vulnerable countries told the United Nations General Assembly that they should not be pushed deeper into debt to rebuild after disasters they contributed little to causing, as leaders from vulnerable regions called for grants, debt relief and faster access to international climate finance.
Leaders from the Caribbean, Pacific, Indian Ocean and Himalayan regions said the current system often responds to storms, floods and rising seas with costly loans and lengthy procedures, shifting the financial burden onto countries least responsible for climate-related damage.
Vulnerable Nations Call for Grant-Based Climate Finance
Samoan Deputy Prime Minister Mulipola Anarosa Ale Molioo said funds meant for education, healthcare, water and social protection were increasingly being diverted towards disaster recovery.
“Small nations are being asked to finance both development and survival. No nation should have to borrow its way out of a crisis it did so little to create,” Molioo said.
Saint Lucian Prime Minister Philip J Pierre said eligibility for international finance should consider climate vulnerability alongside national income.
“We must stop confusing loans with solidarity,” Pierre said, arguing that vulnerable countries should not have to borrow to repair damage caused by climate disasters.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps also said countries facing severe sea-level rise should not be forced into debt simply to fund measures needed for their survival.
Nepal Seeks Faster Support After Deadly Floods
Nepal made a similar appeal following catastrophic flash floods that killed at least 1,400 people and left more than 6,000 missing. Initial assessments put the country’s physical recovery needs at around 10 per cent of its gross domestic product.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah called for adequate grant-based support and said the Loss and Damage Fund and other environmental financing mechanisms remained inadequate.
“When the house is burning, we do not ask the family to complete fifty forms. We act,” Shah said, calling for faster access to climate finance.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Godwin Friday said small states could not continue borrowing to rebuild infrastructure repeatedly damaged by climate disasters.
Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader called for climate finance to reach vulnerable countries as quickly as disasters strike, while Maldives Vice-President Hussain Mohamed Latheef stressed the need for financing “at the scale, at the speed, and on the terms” required to build resilience.
Small Island States Demand Debt Relief, Affordable Finance
Seychelles President Mathew Antonio Patrick Herminie called for affordable long-term finance and meaningful debt relief, saying mitigation, adaptation, technology transfer and loss-and-damage funding should not be treated as charity.
Fijian President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu highlighted the Pacific Resilience Facility, a Pacific-owned climate and disaster-financing mechanism whose first grants were reaching communities.
“The Pacific Resilience Facility exists because a village seawall does not need a three-year accreditation process. It needs money that arrives,” Lalabalavu said.
The Bahamas warned that existing lending rules could leave island states ineligible for assistance because of their income levels until a major hurricane causes severe economic damage. Nauru similarly called for vulnerability, rather than income alone, to determine access to development finance.