The Nepal Weekly 
July 8, 2025
Green Climate Fund approves $36.1 million to help Nepal protect lives and livelihoods from glacial flood risks. The 42nd Board Meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved the project titled ‘Protecting People and Assets from the Risk of Climate-Induced Landslides and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods in Himalayan Watersheds’ submitted by Nepal. The GCF Meeting was held during June 30 to July 03 in Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) Board this time approved a record volume of climate finance for developing countries, green-lighting 17 new projects for climate action around the world. The USD 1.225 billion total is the largest amount approved at a single Board meeting, during a year in which the Fund is scaling up its activities in response to the global demands for climate finance. GCF now has a portfolio of 314 projects amounting to USD 18 billion in GCF resources, USD 67 billion including co-financing.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) stands for a financial mechanism established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to support developing countries in addressing climate change. It mobilizes financial resources to help developing countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. The GCF is the world’s largest dedicated fund for this purpose.
The volume of support to extend includes a $36.1 million grant to support Nepal reduce the growing threat of glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), a major and accelerating climate risk in the Himalayas. The approval marks a new chapter in how Nepal prepares for climate threats, shifting from reacting after floods to preventing them before they happen.
Led by Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the new project will benefit over 2.2 million people living in vulnerable mountain regions.
Key components of the seven-year project include expanding and upgrading hazard monitoring and early warning systems; reducing water levels in four high-risk glacial lakes (Thulagi, Lower Barun, LumdingTsho, and Hongu 2); strengthening riverbanks and flood-prone areas through reforestation (over 150 hectares of trees) and protective infrastructure such as check dams and vegetative gabion walls; and helping national and local authorities, first responders and communities to plan and prepare for future risks.
“2025 becomes a milestone year for the world’s glaciers, the rapid retreat of Himalayan ice leaves no room for delay. With Himalayan glaciers retreating at an accelerating rate, immediate measures are critical for mountain communities’ resilience”, said Henry Gonzalez, Chief Investment Officer of the Green Climate Fund. “The project in Nepal will enhance GLOF early warning systems and nature-based solutions to mitigate glacier risks and create enabling environment for market opportunities. This initiative focuses on protecting vulnerable communities and infrastructure and establishing a replicable model for climate adaptation in mountain regions globally.”
“Rising temperatures are rapidly transforming Nepal’s snowpack, glaciers, permafrost, and precipitation – shifting not just the scale and frequency of mountain hazards, but their very nature,” said ICIMOD Director General Pema Gyamtsho. “We’re witnessing a shift from isolated events to cascading disasters. This demands coordinated action to monitor risks, expand early warning systems, and support community preparedness. The GCF’s support for this GLOF project and look forward to working with UNDP and DHM to save lives, protect livelihoods, and build long-term resilience across the mountains.”
“UNDP welcomes the opportunity to partner with the Government of Nepal to tackle some of the most urgent and complex climate risks facing mountain regions today,” said Kyoko Yokosuka, UNDP Resident Representative in Nepal. “Supported by the Green Climate Fund, this initiative represents a long-term investment to protect lives and strengthen resilience where it matters most. It is climate action that is both grounded and game-changing.”
The Himalayas are heating up, posing a rising threat not just to Nepal but to millions living downstream. Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya are melting faster than ever. This is causing glacial lakes to swell, increasing the risk of sudden, destructive floods. Nepal has more than 2,000 glacial lakes, of which 21 are considered potentially dangerous.
Combining early warning systems, engineering solutions and nature-based approaches to reduce the risk of glacial lake outburst floods, the project directly contributes to Nepal’s adaptation priorities set out under its National Adaptation Plan (2021-2050) and Nationally Determined Contribution 3.0.
The project aims to catalyse future public and private investment in climate risk reduction, setting an example that other high mountain countries can follow, with an additional $14 million in co-financing from the Government of Nepal and partners, brings the total funding to nearly $50 million.
The project is partnering with the private sector to co-finance hydro-meteorological stations and early warning systems, and will also work with local governments and the private sector on community-based adaptation initiatives.
