Nepal: UK Government Support

Wednesday 14th October 2026 Westminster Hall

00:00

[Matt Rodda (Reading Central) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Government support for the situation in Nepal.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I am grateful for the opportunity to discuss the Government’s response to the recent terrible floods in Nepal. I hope that the debate will be an important opportunity to demonstrate the strong links between Britain and Nepal and to understand more about the response to those dreadful floods. I also want to ask the Minister for an update on the response and on Britain’s continuing support for the longer-term reconstruction of the affected area and the development of Nepal more broadly. I will start, however, by echoing the Prime Minister’s words on the disaster by saying that Nepal has always been there for Britain, and now Britain needs to be there for Nepal.

As everybody here will know, we have a very strong—some would say special—relationship with Nepal that goes back over 200 years. The Gurkhas served in the British Army throughout the 19th century and in world war one, world war two and numerous other conflicts since, including Malaysia, Brunei, the Falklands and Afghanistan. More recently, Gurkha soldiers were deployed to deal with the civil emergency in south Wales when they helped to tackle the very serious wildfires this summer.

I also want to acknowledge and celebrate the significant civil contribution of the British Nepalese community, most notably in my own community and others around the country where British Nepalese residents work in the NHS, our local transport system, small businesses, IT and many other walks of life. There is enormous pride in that connection in Reading and the areas across the country with significant Gurkha and Nepalese communities, and there is also a great deal of support for and concern about the situation in Nepal.

I offer my deepest condolences to all those affected by the floods, both the families who lost loved ones and those whose loved ones are still missing. It was a truly awful disaster that affected thousands and thousands of people. I understand the latest estimates are that around 1,400 people lost their lives and that 5,000 are still missing. The images are very difficult to describe. As my colleague Pratikshya Gurung, a local councillor on Reading borough council who is originally from Nepal, said to me at the time, it was so awful that people simply could not watch the news. They could not watch their television because of the horrors that were unfolding. We can all remember the images. Our hearts go out to all of those involved, both families who lost loved ones and families whose loved ones are still missing.

The floods have left grieving families, orphans and lost family members. Sadly, several families in my community in Reading, both in my constituency and in neighbouring constituencies, lost loved ones. There has also been a terrible effect on the very large British Nepalese community in Aldershot. I offer my condolences to all the communities around the country. I understand many colleagues will want to speak about their own communities or just offer their support more generally. I pay tribute to the work of other Members, including my hon. Friends the Members for Reading West and Mid Berkshire (Olivia Bailey), for Earley and Woodley (Yuan Yang), for Aldershot (Alex Baker), for Bracknell (Peter Swallow), for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) and for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra), my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) and many others. Many were not able to attend today, but they wanted to offer their support.

I also thank the Nepalese armed forces, emergency services, medical staff and many others who led the rescue operation in August and early September, and also their international colleagues, including British personnel. They serve with distinction, and many of them continue to serve in the difficult aftermath of the disaster.

I am very proud of the links between Britain and Nepal and the support offered by the British Government, charities in Britain and local communities. I look forward to the Minister updating us on that later. I pay particular tribute to the help offered by our armed services and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the immediate aftermath. I understand from briefings I have had with Ministers that there was incredibly close working between British and Nepalese forces, and that a range of technical help, as well as financial support, was offered to deal with some very specific issues. The FCDO offered a £5 million fund for immediate support, and it increased consular assistance, bringing extra staff into the embassy in Kathmandu.

I thank the Government for that prompt response and for the continuing support Britain is offering to Nepal, as the second biggest bilateral donor to the country. I also thank Ministers for the support they have given me and other members of the Nepal all-party parliamentary group. The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty) and Baroness Winterton provided vital assistance with casework and with briefings on the fast-moving situation.

I turn now to the support provided by charities. The Disasters Emergency Committee has played an important role, and I am pleased to see the continuing work it is undertaking in Nepal. UNICEF provided me with a briefing and support, and the United Nations has done important work in this situation.

More locally, I pay tribute to the community groups, including the Greater Reading Nepalese Community Association and others around the country, who provided such heartfelt and important support. I would like to mention a number of local residents, particularly Bhimsen Khadka, who is the chair of the association in Reading; Dev Bahadur and his wife Aruna Gurung; Chandra Budhathoki, who is the head of the Forgotten British Gurkha charity, which provides important support to retired Gurkhas in our area; Pratikshya and Deepak Gurung—Pratikshya is a local councillor; Ram Galami, a retired serviceman who works to support service personnel; and Bipin Duwadi, the chargé d’affaires at the Nepalese embassy, who has been extremely helpful in providing briefings and encouraging ongoing links between Britain and Nepal and those of us who have Nepalese communities in our constituencies.

I will offer an indication of what it felt like at the time, because it is worth understanding the sense of feeling—I am sure colleagues will deal with this as well. We had a spontaneous vigil in Reading town centre outside our large Marks & Spencer store on Broad Street, which is the main shopping street in the town. It was on a Sunday evening, and hundreds of people showed up. It was organised by the Greater Reading Nepalese Community Association. However, there was huge support from people who are not from Nepal—people from all walks of life across the town—and that was echoed across the country, from what I understand.

The sense of support was incredible. The sense of patriotism—both Nepalese and British patriotism—the deep connection with the armed forces and the sense of solidarity between people was quite overwhelming and powerful. For example, Pratikshya, who is a local councillor, had a resident turn up at her house randomly and say, “I would like to give you 50 quid towards this campaign, because it’s so important to me.” We had other people coming up to us in the street when we had the vigil and asking if they could light a candle to show their support. The level of support was very impressive and, indeed, overwhelming. I would like to thank all those who helped, and that help is continuing and developing.

My office and other MPs’ offices have been active in working with local campaigners. I pay particular tribute to English Martyrs school in Reading, and English Martyrs church, which are some of the many organisations that have offered their support—they are offering to do some fundraising through a sponsored walk. That is typical of the kind of community-based activity that is under way, which will support the help for victims and the much-needed long-term reconstruction of the country. I would like to thank everyone for that.

I appreciate that other colleagues need to address the issues in their communities, but I would like to ask the Minister a series of specific questions, and I look forward to hearing his answers. One of the biggest impacts has been on families both in Britain and Nepal, and some of the casework is very difficult for us to deal with as local MPs. I cannot go into individual cases, but what has happened to so many families—those in Britain with relatives there, and those in Nepal—is really awful. People who were on pilgrimages to the lakes where the water came from are still missing, and in some cases they are older people. One gentleman from Reading, a retired Gurkha who was on a pilgrimage, is still missing, and there are many others, including from other British communities. Many Hindus make pilgrimages to those sacred lakes. It is worth considering the serious impact on families in the short term and the longer term, and I look forward to the Minister saying a bit more about that.

A very large number of people have been affected—something like 84,000, including about 32,000 children, some of whom are orphans. I was speaking to someone about that earlier this week. Some orphans are being cared for in Buddhist monasteries in the area, and some are being cared for and put up in schools. What happened is still having very real practical implications. This is a terrible human tragedy, and there is an ongoing need for practical development and assistance in the area. Nepal is a developing country—it is one of the world’s lower-income countries.

Will the Minister provide an update on the humanitarian response and the ongoing work in the area, including within the affected river system? There is a need to rebuild bridges, schools and homes, and to provide greater resilience if climate change is increasing the risk of such threats. In particular, will the Minister address the environmental issues and the long-term concerns? There was a smaller flood this week in the Gorkha district. The Budhi Gandaki river flooded, and a number of people are now missing. It was a mudslide—a large amount of mud and rocks went into the river—so it is not quite the same, although it is happening in the same geographical location. There are great concerns in the British Nepalese community that this type of disaster may occur again.

I declare an interest: several members of my family are environmental scientists. My dad visited Nepal for a programme in the 1990s, through which a number of countries provided assistance to developing countries to provide greater resilience against natural disasters of this kind. Separately, I visited Nepal as a walker with my wife some years ago.

Will the Minister address the particular risks in mountainous regions such as Nepal with very steep river valleys, high levels of rainfall, glacial lakes and glaciers that may sadly now be melting because of the climate emergency? What are the practical implications? How can the UK and other advanced countries provide greater resources, including monitoring and early warning? What measures can be taken to provide greater resilience to the communities involved, which now appear to be far more at risk of threats from this type of disaster, even on a smaller scale?

I look forward to the Minister’s answers to those questions. More generally, will he talk about the ongoing work that Britain is doing with Nepal to encourage its development? Nepal hoped to move out of a certain category of developing countries. It did not quite make it, but it is developing and there is incredible potential. Its new Government are working closely with our Government. The first official visit to the new Government was made by a British Minister, which is an important indication of the special relationship between our two countries. There is scope for greater trade and support, and the British Nepalese community is very active in our country. I look forward to the Minister’s response. I realise that this is not his brief, but will he contact his colleague in the Ministry of Defence and ask for an update for the community on the unrelated issue of pensions for a certain group of Gurkha soldiers—those who retired before 1997 and have a different pension arrangement from that of more recent retirees?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak, Ms McVey. I am really grateful to Mr Speaker and the House authorities for granting me the opportunity to have this debate. I look forward to hearing more from colleagues and the Minister.

09:44

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

As always, it is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. Thank you for what you do as Chair. I commend the hon. Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for bringing this issue forward. He set the scene incredibly well, with calmness, assuredness and knowledge; I thank him for that, and I look forward to the other contributions. This debate matters not narrowly in a diplomatic sense but in a deeply human and moral sense, so I am grateful to have the opportunity to contribute.

In September, Nepal experienced catastrophic flooding that swept through the Kathmandu valley and surrounding regions. If we close our eyes for a second, we can almost imagine that torrent of water and the debris that came with it, which swept everything ahead of it. That reminds us of the fickleness of man and how dangerous nature can be when things go wrong. Towns were submerged, homes were destroyed and lives were lost in devastating numbers. One image that sticks in my mind is the border post: people were walking across or crossing in buses and cars, when the flood suddenly came and everything disappeared. That is how quickly things happened.

Hundreds of people perished, thousands more were displaced and entire communities were left without shelter, clean water or hope. I say those things not as statistics, but as someone who has an interest in Nepal—of course, every one of us is here because we have an interest in Nepal. I chair the APPG for international freedom of religion or belief, which visited Nepal. The last delegation was led by Fiona Bruce, the former Member for Congleton, and the APPG produced a report afterwards to reflect some of our concerns.

I should have said earlier that it is always a pleasure to see the Minister in his place. He has a quiet and sure way with him and reassures us about things that concern us. I have three requests for him, which I gave to civil servants beforehand.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

My hon. Friend is outlining the horrendous events in Nepal. Does he agree that one heartwarming thing that arose in the midst of that devastation was the number of faith groups across the UK, especially in Northern Ireland, that rallied round to raise significant amounts of money to help with the horrendous problems that many people in Nepal continue to face?

[Jim Shannon]

I was going to refer to that, but my hon. Friend beat me to it. In the middle of the devastation, heartache and despair, we can be encouraged by those who have made a significant effort to help.

Among all the devastation, what reminded me of how close people were to their final times in this world was the school where the principal, aware of the flood coming down the valley, got all the children out and higher up the mountain. They ran to get away, and those seconds saved their lives, as the flood came down and submerged the school where they had been 10 minutes earlier.

I do not want to be churlish about the genuine relief efforts that followed or the significant contributions made by those in my hon. Friend’s constituency and all our constituencies—indeed, the hon. Member for Reading Central talked about those earlier. However, the humanitarian crisis created by the floods has compounded an existing and deeply troubling pattern of religious persecution—the situation was already fragile before the waters rose.

Nepal’s Christian community, its Muslim minority and other religious groups were disproportionately affected in the aftermath. I say this to have it recorded, because my churches and those with friends or family in Nepal are getting reports about aid distribution. For example, Open Doors International and Aid to the Church in Need, two significant Christian groups involved, have both documented evidentially that aid was not always distributed equitably.

Reports gathered by the APPG indicate that minority faith communities in Nepal—who are marginalised as it is, and who already face the threat of Nepal’s anti-conversion laws, which have got stronger, more draconian and more focused—found themselves further disenfranchised in the recovery process. They were already marginalised and at the back of the queue, but they were even more disenfranchised when it came to aid. Neighbours who share a faith with local officials received assistance first, and those who did not waited. That is not speculation; witnesses confirm that they heard it from community leaders, who spoke with quiet dignity about what they had endured. That is certainly never our intention with aid, but unfortunately it happened in Nepal.

Nepal’s anti-conversion legislation effectively proscribes the sharing of faith. I am a Christian, but I believe strongly that those of other faiths should have the right to practise their faiths, just as I do. I believe that in my heart, and I expect others to believe that. Unfortunately, that is not what is happening in Nepal. This has created a chilling environment even as aid workers have sought to reach the most vulnerable. Amnesty International has raised serious concerns as well—this is documented at a high level. The APPG report following Fiona Bruce’s visit as the leader of the deputation underlines that freedom of religion or belief is intrinsic to human dignity and human rights, and that a disaster must never be used as an instrument of discrimination.

My three asks of the Minister are these. First, will the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’s humanitarian response to Nepal specifically include mechanisms to ensure that religious minority communities are not discriminated against in the distribution of aid? I would love to say that things have improved. When I first came to Parliament, way back in 2010, there were floods in Pakistan, where I have many friends; the floods swept right down through Pakistan, destroying much in front of them. Christian groups in Pakistan were not getting the aid that was coming through. Unfortunately, some 15 or 16 years later, we find that Christians in Nepal are not getting an equal distribution of aid.

Secondly, will the Government engage with the APPG for international freedom of religion or belief to ensure that our diplomatic presence in Kathmandu is actively monitoring FORB conditions during this crisis? That is really important, and I am sure the Minister will confirm that that is the case, but I put the question on the record. Thirdly, will the Minister kindly write to me with a timeline for that engagement?

I will conclude, because I am conscious that others want to speak. The lifeblood of any credible foreign policy is its consistency. We must stand for the same principles in Kathmandu as we proclaim in this Chamber. I always end with scripture, because it is important that we focus on what the good book tells us. Proverbs 31:8-9 talks of standing up for the oppressed and speaking for those who have no voice. Today, in this House, we have the privilege of being that spokesperson for the people in Nepal who do not have a voice in the country they live in. I commend this debate to the House, and I very much look forward to the Minister’s response.

09:49

[Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a real honour to speak in this important debate, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so. I am also grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda), and particularly pleased to follow such powerful speeches setting out the proud relationship between our countries, the UK and Nepal, which has existed for such a long time: the steadfast contribution of gallant Gurkhas over many decades, right to the present day; the interpersonal links between our countries, which are incredibly strong; and the contribution made today by Nepali-British people to our public services, economy and culture.

I am very proud of Oxford’s Nepalese community, who contribute so much to my city. That community—our neighbours, friends and workmates—are now grieving the loss of many family members and friends. Of course, their loss happened in such shocking circumstances, and speakers have referred to the images we saw, which looked like they were out of some horrendous feature film, not like events that were really taking place and affecting people in circumstances that had been so peaceful—people on pilgrimage, for example, in one of the most beautiful places on Earth and people in their homes and workplaces. We in the UK and in my city now have a window on to the sharpest end of the climate crisis.

Many Nepalese people live on the Rose Hill council estate, where I live. Oxford’s Nepalese people have made a huge contribution to our city. Many retired Gurkhas live in Oxford, and we are always moved to see that reflected in our remembrance service every November. However, many Nepalese people also serve in academia; healthcare, as in Reading; childcare; businesses, such as the many Nepalese restaurants we are very pleased to have in our city; and many forms of public service, including by volunteering to support the community, with the Nepalese contribution to OxClean being particularly notable. There is a long and strong history of us working together over so many decades—indeed, centuries—and we have to intensify that now.

I recently had the privilege of meeting Mr Tulasi Paudel, from Help for Nepal and the Nepalese community in Oxfordshire. I am very grateful for that group’s work and for that of the Gurkha Nepalese Society Oxfordshire. Retired Captain Paudel explained the human impact of the devastating recent events my colleagues and friends have just talked about. As others have done, I express my sincere condolences to all those affected and the many thousands who still do not know what has happened to their families.

As has been mentioned, we still see damaged roads and bridges, which have cut off entire communities. Survivors are still in need, often of shelter, despite the best efforts of those who have come to their aid. Clean drinking water is still a huge problem, as are medical supplies and food. The UK’s £5 million package of humanitarian assistance to support those affected was most welcome. The UK has historically provided support to strengthen Nepal’s resilience to climate-related disasters, but Mr Paudel and I believe that more can and must be done.

Yes, of course this relates to humanitarian support, and we have heard helpful comments on that subject from other speakers in the debate. That assistance will be particularly important as people seek to rebuild their lives after such a horrendous set of circumstances—losing everything. But we have to work together politically and multilaterally as well. During the UN General Assembly session that has just ended, I, along with Mr Paudel, wrote to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary, calling on him to work with the Nepalese Government on their calls for practical global action to tackle climate change and for climate justice.

We also pushed for our countries—the UK and Nepal—to work together in the run-up to the COP in Antalya and at every international event at which climate action is discussed. The Himalayas are a vital water source for a large part of Asia. What happens to the Himalayan cryosphere has consequences far beyond Nepal. The people living beneath the Himalayas should not have to pay the greatest price for a climate crisis that they contributed so little to creating.

The UK has an important opportunity to stand alongside countries such as Nepal, given the strong historical and present relationship. Nepalese people have given our country so much. Now we have to stand alongside them. We must help to ensure that the voices of vulnerable Himalayan communities calling for climate action are heard and acted on, so I call on my hon. Friend the Minister and our Government to seek out every opportunity to develop common positions on climate action with Nepalese counterparts and to use their voice to amplify that of our Nepalese friends.

09:59

[Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)]

I join others in praising my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for securing this very helpful debate. Nepal is a country of remarkable people, soaring beauty and extraordinary fragility. Its people are brave and resilient, but also increasingly vulnerable. The poverty levels in Nepal are still shockingly high; more than 20% of the population live below the poverty line and, on the key human development indexes, Nepal ranks 146th out of 193 countries.

I first visited Nepal at the end of its civil war—a conflict that killed more than 17,000 people and left more than 100,000 displaced. The scale and length of that conflict still leave a long tail, but now it is the grim reality of climate change that headlines the ongoing story of Nepal’s vulnerability and fragility.

As other hon. Members have already referenced, the catastrophic floods of 26 August killed at least 1,455 people in Nepal, with more than 5,000 still missing, according to the latest figures. It was good to see the UK quickly announce £5 million in emergency humanitarian assistance, delivered through UN agencies, the Red Cross and local organisations. It was also good to see the Minister’s colleague, Baroness Winterton, visit Nepal quickly in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

It is worth referencing that Nepal’s estimated recovery and reconstruction requirements are approximately £5 billion, including measures to improve resilience against future disasters. On its own, Nepal will simply not have the scale of finances available to put the right measures in place. It is therefore surely incumbent on the UK, as a long-standing friend, to continue to engage with the Nepalese and the international community to find a solution to those financing challenges.

Our relationship with Nepal extends well beyond development assistance; it encompasses the Gurkha service, which has been referenced already, cultural links, educational connections and a significant Nepalese diaspora in the UK. In Harrow, I have regular contact with the significant Nepalese community, notably with Raj Tripathi, who is an active member of the Nepalese community in south Harrow. I have attended community fundraising efforts, bringing residents together to raise money for those affected by the disaster. I pay particular tribute to the south Harrow business community for coming together to raise funds to send to Nepal and help their friends begin to recover.

[Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)]

We do not have a substantial Nepalese community in Cornwall, but I want to mention Mr Sharma and his family, who own Balti Curries in my constituency. They immediately launched an appeal and raised more than £2,600 in a short period of time. That shows how important the community is, even in places such as Cornwall.

[Gareth Thomas]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s constituent and to her support for his fundraising efforts. The speed with which the British Nepalese community has responded to the disaster—raising funds and getting them back to friends and families in the affected communities—has been nothing other than impressive.

In his speech, will the Minister dwell on how the international community will respond to the disaster going forward? Inevitably, when a humanitarian disaster strikes there is a lot of media attention, which helps to galvanise different parts of the international community. Sadly, it is often once the media attention moves on that the most important assistance is needed, to make sure that the long effort to rebuild communities and create more effective development assistance going forward is put in place. Britain has a long track record of an effective development operation. Given our links to Nepal, and given its needs, surely we have a particular responsibility to stay the course, working with China and India on efforts to raise the funds and see them used in the most effective way possible to support the recovery of those communities.

The last time I visited Nepal, it was to look at development work that was just beginning to help manage the impact of climate change. I mention that because, at the UN General Assembly, Balendra Shah, Nepal’s Prime Minister, described the floods as “not just a local tragedy”

but

“a warning to the world”,

and argued that climate change is destabilising the Himalayan ecosystem. Scientific studies and World Weather Attribution analysis suggest that climate change likely contributed to the glacier retreat and permafrost thaw, increasing instability in the mountains, although researchers have suggested that it was not the sole cause of the collapse. Experts argue that the disaster highlights the need for stronger glacial monitoring going forward, further honing of early warning systems, hazard mapping and cross-border information sharing. They note that the current coverage of such systems in Nepal and across the Himalayan regions remains relatively limited. I feel the UK could certainly add value in sorting that out.

The UN has highlighted extensive damage to roads, power networks and water and sanitation systems, again underlining the importance of rebuilding infrastructure in ways that reduce vulnerability to future disasters. Infrastructure is usually the preserve of the multilateral banks in the international development system. We play a key role in funding the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and others. It would be good to hear from the Minister in this debate, or by letter if that is not possible, what role Britain is playing to make sure that the World Bank and other bits of the multilateral system are stepping up their efforts in that regard.

We must recognise that there is an ongoing responsibility to support Nepal’s development beyond just providing humanitarian aid and ideas. Nepal needs more trade and investment. Although India and China should and could do more in that regard, given our historical role and our links to Nepal in the Commonwealth, we can surely do more to help Nepalese businesses to access trade opportunities in the UK. Will the Minister encourage his officials to explore options for a British-Nepalese investment conference to boost trade and explore opportunities for British businesses perhaps to invest more in Nepalese businesses in the UK? Lastly, I echo my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central in asking for an update from the MOD about the issues affecting MOD pensions for a number of Gurkha veterans.

10:08

[Luke Murphy (Basingstoke) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I am particularly grateful for your latitude given my slightly tardy arrival. I am also grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for securing the debate.

As many hon. Members have said, the floods have caused catastrophic damage and loss of life. As my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West (Gareth Thomas) mentioned, Nepal’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority has highlighted that 1,455 people have been confirmed dead and over 5,000 are missing. Few of us will forget the devastating scenes that we saw on our television screens as whole places were swept away as a result of the floods. Sadly, given the number of people missing, the death toll is likely to continue to rise and the flooding is likely to continue to affect many other lives. With homes, schools and health services ruined, and whole communities devastated, it will take a long time to rebuild. As hon. Members have said, that is why the long-term commitment and support of the UK Government, in partnership with the Nepalese Government, is so important.

This horrifying event has impacted not just Nepal and those in Tibet, but the Nepalese community around the world, including those in the strong Nepalese community who have proudly made the UK their home. I am proud to represent one of the largest Nepalese communities in the UK, including many Gurkha veterans, and I know how much of an impact the incident has had on our local community. I was pleased to join a local vigil organised by the Basingstoke Nepalese community. As my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central mentioned, it was incredibly well attended by people of all backgrounds.

We reflected on not just the profound loss and impact of the floods, but the acts of heroism, small and large, that have been carried out by many people in Nepal. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) mentioned the school principal, Rajendra Dawadi, whose quick thinking saved the lives of 900 children. There is also Chhiring Tamang, the school bus driver whose quick thinking to drive 50 children across a bridge before it was swept away saved their lives, and Priya Adhikari, Nepal’s first female helicopter pilot, who flew more than 100 rescue missions during the crisis.

Those acts of heroism came alongside small acts of support, including by those in the Basingstoke Nepalese community who have been leading fundraising efforts to support those affected by the floods back home. I pay tribute to the chair, Bijay, the general secretary, Jagadish, and the whole committee in Basingstoke for its work in leading that support.

I also welcome the support that the UK Government have given to Nepal and the British nationals affected by the floods. As others have mentioned, that includes £5 million in humanitarian assistance for emergency shelter, healthcare, food, clean water and sanitation; the longer-term partnership, which has existed for a long time, of £100 million for Nepal’s disaster resilience, humanitarian assistance and climate adaptation; and the wider financial support that others have mentioned through institutions such as the World Bank. Other acts include consular support, staffing and deployment, diplomatic engagement, ministerial visits and engagement with affected communities in the UK. The support was incredibly well received by the local community in Basingstoke and again emphasises the long-standing partnership and friendship between our two countries.

As my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) mentioned, the disaster highlights once again the disastrous impacts of climate change. It shows the important leadership role that the UK can play, must play and is playing to combat what is the greatest threat to our economy, society and security here in the UK and around the world. I welcome the fact that the Government remain committed to meeting our climate targets here at home, and that the new Foreign Secretary has rightly placed climate and nature security at the heart of our national security and foreign policy decision making. As the floods have shown, and as the Foreign Secretary has said, climate change and nature loss are not just issues for climate and environment Ministers alone; they are defining challenges for our economy, foreign policy and national security. No one recognises that more than the people of Nepal, and it was a big theme of the vigil event that we hosted in Basingstoke.

I conclude by asking the Minister what further action the Government will take to support Nepal in recovering from the floods, seeking reassurance that the Government will remain engaged in helping the recovery in the medium to long term. To echo my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West, because it will be such a long recovery, that long-term support will be so important. Long after the floods have been forgotten and are no longer being played on the news, we must remain a steadfast partner. I also seek reassurance that support will remain available for affected British nationals, including those who may have loved ones among the missing. I also echo the urging of my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central for the Government to finally resolve the pensions issue, which I have been working on with the local Gurkha community in Basingstoke. Finally, I again pay tribute to the local Nepalese community that I am so proud to represent.

10:13

[Seema Malhotra (Feltham and Heston) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for securing this debate. Judging from the contributions that we have already heard, how we are continuing to support Nepal after the devastating floods there just a few months ago is a matter of great interest to the House.

I am grateful for the tone of the debate, and for the way in which it has outlined the UK’s engagement with and support for Nepal at this very challenging time, within the context of our long-standing relationship and friendship with each other. I also recognise the very strong relationship that we have with the Gurkhas, who form a very important part of the British Army. I was privileged to visit the Royal Gurkha Rifles in Brunei and to see their exceptional skill, as well as the way in which we work together on tropical jungle warfare, and how the Gurkhas form a key part of the British Army’s elite capabilities in such warfare. They also support the training of other forces in the region.

I know that we all want to offer our deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones in the floods. Whole communities were affected, with schools and homes being washed away. Tens of thousands of people either lost their lives or were badly affected by the floods, and many people are still unaccounted for. Just yesterday, I heard from someone about how they were going ahead with funeral prayers, because they realised that their loved one was never going to come back and that they would never find her body. Nevertheless, it was important for them, as it has been for other families, to be able to find some closure, and for people to support each other at this time. There is a long-term relationship between our countries and we need to provide long-term support to Nepal as it continues to recover.

I want to recognise the scale of the impact of the floods. A recent report has indicated that the total cost of damage is around $2.7 billion, which is extraordinary. When we consider how and where the floods struck, we think of the hydropower plants where so many people were working and of the pilgrimages that were affected, with people coming to Nepal from a range of countries, including India. Also, the Tibetan region was affected.

What the floods have also shown is how important it is, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) said, that we ensure we work internationally. I would be grateful for an update from the Minister on how we are working with the Indian Government and the Chinese Government, as well as with international NGOs and the international community, including international finance institutions, on helping with recovery and on long-term development in Nepal.

I also thank the Nepal all-party parliamentary group for the meetings that it held very quickly after the floods, including with Bipin from the Nepalese embassy in London, to ensure that there is a connection in the conversations taking place between Nepal and our communities here in the United Kingdom and our parties across Parliament, as well as a dialogue between the UK Government and the Nepalese Government.

I thank the Minister who is here in Westminster Hall today—the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgend (Chris Elmore)—and another Minister, Baroness Winterton, who I know changed her plans when she was abroad to make a quick visit to stand in solidarity with Nepal on behalf of the UK and to demonstrate the UK’s leadership in helping to co-ordinate some of the humanitarian efforts, and to understand what the Nepalese Government need from the international community at this time.

That dialogue continues, and I am also grateful to Baroness Winterton for the interest she has shown in the conversations that I have been having with the Nepalese community in my constituency. There is a very large Nepalese community in Hounslow, and particularly in Feltham and Heston.

I am also grateful to our former mayor, Bishnu Gurung, himself a Gurkha veteran, and to those in my constituency from the region affected. I particularly want to thank Dawo Lama, Sushila and Padma for their inputs, which I will share. I also want to thank Maneera from KTM ROX, who held a fundraiser that was really appreciated by the community. It was a way in which people were able to come together, as other hon. Members have mentioned, to support each other and to raise vital funds as well.

On my visit to Nepal back in May, I was fortunate to visit not just Kathmandu but Lumbini, which is a UNESCO world heritage site and the birthplace of Lord Buddha. It was also an extraordinary experience to visit the Maya Devi temple. The backdrop to that visit was a wish to understand how we can work together as two nations to support Nepal’s economic ambitions and growth.

I was reminded of how closely we worked with Nepal after the 2015 earthquake. I also visited Nepal with my constituents at that time. It was a long-term partnership to support recovery. It is important to recognise the ambition that the new Nepalese Government have demonstrated: they want to see a future in which Nepal is much more on the world stage in terms of industrial partnerships, growth and ambition. That is the reason why I want to reference the call for a British-Nepalese investment conference by my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West (Gareth Thomas). I hope that can be taken away by a Foreign Office Minister and discussed with colleagues in the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade.

I was pleased to be able to discuss the ambitions of the Nepalese Government on one of the first ministerial visits to Nepal after the elections. Data from the World Bank indicates that the Nepalese economy grew at a rate of 2% in 2023, 3.7% in 2024 and 4.4% in 2025. The Nepalese Government have aspirations for an average real economic growth rate of 7% over the next decade, and that aspiration has been underpinned by a fundamental restructuring of economic incentives, intentions to simplify the business environment in Nepal to also attract more domestic, foreign and diaspora investment, and reform of the tax regime and digital economy. That was set out in detail in May in The Rising Nepal, an English-language newspaper in Nepal.

It is important to recognise what the Nepalese Foreign Minister has been saying about Nepal’s immense potential for clean energy production, alongside agriculture, tourism, industry, information technology and human capital, which I have spoken about during dialogues in Nepal and in conversations with the diaspora community here in the United Kingdom. That ambition is an important backdrop for the conversations that we are having: we must recognise that coming together is so important to support the long-term recovery in Nepal following the devastating floods. We must keep our focus on how we support greater resilience in Nepal.

I also want to pick up on the points that have been raised about ensuring that Nepal has a programme for stronger resilience, disaster prediction and understanding the data, which might be specific to the environment. As we know, Nepal and the Himalayas are a unique and important global destination not just for leisure and mountaineering, but for spiritual retreats. Because of its unique place and natural assets, it is also open for partnerships around the world in a way that aligns with our own aspirations, not just to support a clean and green energy transformation in the United Kingdom through our ambitious targets, but to show global leadership and support countries with great potential and opportunities for investment and capability support from across the world.

I would therefore like to understand from the Minister, for my second question, what work we are doing to support investment to ensure greater resilience. I am grateful for the conversations I have had with scientists in Nepal about this. They see great potential for British scientists and universities to be part of that story in Nepal, and if there is one thing we have learned from this—and from Members’ contributions about more recent natural disasters elsewhere and the shared risk—it is that we should be looking at this project with greater urgency. Indeed, I suspect these larger-scale projects will require international finance and scientific partnerships.

My constituents have also raised with me the importance of keeping climate change on the agenda. It is important not just to look at the short-term politics, whether in the UK or the US. We have to look at the underlying direction of travel that we must continue to take to tackle climate change. As the Nepalese community have said to me, Nepal has not contributed to climate change, yet it is suffering in the way that we have seen. That risk will continue unless we continue to show global leadership as an international community, not only by taking climate change seriously and preventing it, but by ensuring resilience to tackle its impacts.

Let me come to the UK’s response, for which I am grateful. The £5 million that was immediately announced has been an important part of the UK’s wider response to the flooding and its deployment of support, in combination with the UN, Red Cross and NGO interventions. Some of that humanitarian support has been absolutely critical, but we must also continue the important work of supporting regions that have not had the investment to recover. Constituents who are from the area, one of whom has been a civil engineer in hydropower and whose colleagues were affected, have raised with me the importance of building bridges and roads, and also ensuring safeguarding for young people and the 1,000 children who have lost their parents.

To wrap up, the recovery and relief efforts, the humanitarian efforts, the road building and bridge building, and the safeguarding of children are all issues that have been raised. If the Minister does not mind, I will write to him about that and particularly about the affected areas of Trishuli, Tupche, Sole and the Kispang rural municipality, which my constituents have raised with me.

10:29

[Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for securing this debate about our support for a country that is a friend and an ally, and one to whom we have owed gratitude over more than 200 years.

I start by adding my condolences to the families and friends of all those who lost their lives or remain missing in Nepal and Tibet, following the August floods and the floods in Nepal over the weekend. I pay tribute to the UK rapid deployment team and humanitarian crisis response specialists who have supported British nationals and the wider crisis response to the floods in Nepal. Those brave and skilled teams are a clear example of the UK’s world-leading excellence and expertise.

The news might have moved on, but the people of Nepal face rebuilding their country while experts note that such disasters might become more frequent in the region in the coming years. Indeed, the UK Government’s national security assessment of global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse cites severe degradation or collapse of the Himalayas as particularly significant for UK national security.

The August floods were not unexpected. Nepal’s mountains are warming rapidly. In 2023, the UN Secretary-General reported that they had lost almost a third of their ice in just over three decades. The wider Hindu Kush Himalaya region is also warming significantly faster than the global average. All the while, international agreement founders when it comes to action that truly meets the moment.

Rebuilding comes at a great financial cost. The Government of Nepal have written to the UN loss and damage fund to request $20 million, which is 0.7% of the reported $2.7 billion it has estimated in physical damage to infrastructure and economic losses. The loss and damage fund itself is suffering from a lack of finance. It has reportedly already received requests totalling $2.8 billion from 119 countries, but only $400 million has been given by the international donor community. The demand vastly outstrips supply. With the impact of climate change intensifying, and with the super El Niño in the process of biting, it is deplorable that the international community continues to fail when it comes to preparing for climate shocks.

Although I welcome the rapid deployment of UK personnel and the £5 million in humanitarian aid to help with the crisis, that £5 million is not enough and does not reflect the closeness of our relationship with Nepal. I remain deeply concerned about the wider UK aid budget, which has been slashed to 0.3%. That includes the cutting of the UK humanitarian crisis reserve by 12%, from £85 million to £75 million, leaving less flexible money for rapid support in humanitarian emergencies. Cutting the humanitarian crisis reserve at a time when many of the world’s poorest countries—the ones often most vulnerable to the impact of climate change—are dealing with those impacts is strategically illiterate. I ask the Minister, as I have before: when will the Government set out a road map for a return to spending 0.7% of GNI on official development assistance, and will the Government revisit the cut to the humanitarian crisis reserve?

Climate finance has also been cut—there has been a halving of the UK commitment to the Green Climate Fund and a significant cut to our international climate finance, despite an ambitious new Government ICF strategy. The reality does not match the rhetoric. It is also a matter of national security for us here at home, as I have mentioned. The national security assessment of global biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse is brutal in its assessment of the impact on our national security and prosperity, with crop failures, intensified natural disasters and infectious disease outbreaks. It points out the critical ecosystems that support major global food production areas and impact global climate, water and weather cycles, and their importance, including in the Himalayas, and how their degradation and collapse will lead to water insecurity, severely reduced crop yields, fisheries collapse, changes to global weather patterns, release of trapped carbon exacerbating climate change, novel disease and loss of pharmaceutical responses. It will drive migration and serious and organised crime and lead to black markets in scarce food, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals, with non-state actors gaining control over scarce resources, and there are pandemic risks. As instability grows, it leads to conflict and military escalation.

Wider development finance can provide some solutions, but definitive action on debt sustainability, illicit financial flows and reform of the multilateral development banks is necessary. Given that the countries most vulnerable to climate change are often also vulnerable to debt distress, it is imperative that the Government use their upcoming G20 presidency to take real and meaningful action on the issues, as well as charting a course forward on climate finance.

This is, after all, a fairness issue—a justice issue. Nepal is responsible for only 0.1% of global emissions, yet it is bearing the consequences of runaway carbon emissions and global inaction in tackling them. As the Nepali Prime Minister recently said at the UN General Assembly, countries like Nepal are

“hit by the climate we did not warm and hit again by the wars we did not start.”

What does fairness look like? Estimates that we heard at the International Development Committee, on which I sit, put the UK’s fair share of international climate finance, as the world’s sixth-largest economy and fifth-largest historical emitter, at £9 billion a year. Add in inflation and the changes to the Government’s accounting methodology, and the ODA element of ICF4 diverges even further from the UK’s fair share. Given all those factors, our ICF allocation is roughly 50% lower than ICF3.

Failure to tackle the climate crisis will erode development gains and push more people into humanitarian need, resource competition and a vicious cycle of poverty and instability, and will damage the UK’s reputation as a leader in climate and development. With COP31 fast approaching, what will be the Government’s strategy for real and meaningful action? How will the Foreign Secretary go beyond words to action that is reflected in tangible UK commitments, both domestic and globally? The floods in Nepal have shown us what can happen and what will continue to happen if we do not act.

There is still time to take action. World Bank research estimates that climate change could force 260 million people to move within their countries by 2050, but that immediate action to reduce global emissions could reduce that number by up to 80%. I urge the Minister and the Government to take bold steps with our development and climate strategy, our aid and our G20 presidency so that the catastrophe in Nepal does not become the norm for communities everywhere. The UK has an opportunity to lead, and we should take it.

10:36

[David Reed (Exmouth and Exeter East) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I congratulate the hon. Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) on securing this important and timely debate.

The devastating floods that struck Nepal on 26 August have brought unimaginable suffering to communities across the country. More than 1,400 people lost their lives, thousands remain missing and entire communities have been swept away. Homes, roads, bridges and vital infrastructure have been destroyed, leaving families displaced and livelihoods devastated.

On behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition, I extend my deepest condolences to the people of Nepal, to those who have lost loved ones and to everyone still waiting for news of missing family members. I also extend our condolences to the people impacted by the further flash floods in the past few days. Our thoughts are particularly with the families of the British nationals who remain unaccounted for after the August floods.

I visited Nepal last year on a development visit, and I saw just how deep and enduring the ties between Britain and Nepal are. I visited communities that had been devastated by horrible events in years gone by, and seeing their fear really brought home the effect that such events have. As British nationals who do not see such events, trying to get our minds around that is difficult, but we must try.

Our relationship with Nepal has been forged through generations of friendship, about which a number of Members have talked powerfully, and through shared service and the extraordinary contributions of the Gurkhas. I served in the military with a number of Gurkhas, and I saw how kind, honest and hardy they are.

We have heard a number of brilliant and very pressing contributions. The hon. Member for Reading Central really brought the issue home. It is difficult to comprehend the numbers, but 84,000 people have been affected, 32,000 of whom are children. He spoke powerfully about our deep friendship with Nepal.

The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) said that in periods of devastation, we often see humanity at its best. He talked about his community and the various faith groups that are raising money to address the tragedy. I commend his constituents.

The right hon. Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) and the hon. Member for Harrow West (Gareth Thomas), who, as former International Development Ministers, both have deep expertise in this field, brought home the point about the effects of anthropogenic climate change. We are seeing those effects; although they might not be globally equitable at the moment, countries like Nepal are experiencing them. We have to work here in the UK to ensure that, on the international stage, we push big emitters to bring down global carbon emissions and reduce the effects in places such as Nepal.

The hon. Member for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy) talked about acts of heroism, large and small, both in Nepal and back here at home. The hon. Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra) raised an interesting point, which is something I saw on my trip to Nepal last year. With Nepal being wedged between India and China, which both have significant development output into Nepal, it is important that we work with those two countries to ensure that we are not duplicating efforts or working towards different goals.

At these moments, our bonds of friendship matter enormously. I acknowledge the work undertaken by the British embassy in Kathmandu. Our consular teams, humanitarian organisations and emergency responders have worked tirelessly in exceptionally difficult circumstances. The Government were right to provide every possible support to British nationals and their families while working closely with the Nepalese authorities and search and rescue teams. We welcome the deployment of the UK’s rapid deployment team and the announcement of £5 million in emergency humanitarian assistance. However, the situation has now entered a particularly difficult and distressing new phase. Following the Nepalese Government’s decision to end formal search and rescue operations, thousands of families have been left without answers about the fate of their loved ones.

I would therefore be grateful if the Minister would address several questions. First, reports indicate that 33 British citizens still remain missing. Will the Minister confirm the latest verified figure, and explain what further consular and diplomatic steps are being taken to establish their whereabouts? What representations have been made to the Nepalese authorities following the decision to end formal search operations? What arrangements are in place to ensure that any human remains discovered during reconstruction are properly identified and families informed?

Secondly, many face the painful uncertainty of not knowing what happened to their loved ones, which is compounded by the complex legal and administrative processes surrounding missing persons and death certificates. What practical assistance is the FCDO providing to help British families navigate those processes? Will dedicated consular support and family liaison arrangements remain in place for as long as they are needed?

Thirdly, will the Minister update the House on the delivery of the £5 million emergency assistance package? How much has been disbursed, and what assessment has been made of its effectiveness? How are the Government ensuring that assistance reaches isolated communities, particularly those in the affected valleys, where damaged infrastructure continues to hinder access? When we were in Nepal, we met the Gurkha Welfare Trust and saw the work that it does, going out into remote areas and ensuring that Gurkhas who have served the UK military receive their pensions. That is paramount, and the FCDO and the MOD must ensure that that work is still happening. We would also welcome clarification on whether British humanitarian specialists remain deployed, and what further assistance is being provided to Nepal as it moves towards recovery and reconstruction.

As ever, it is right that Britain responds to such devastating and exceptional circumstances, the scale of which is almost unimaginable to us here in the UK. Our country has a proud tradition of standing alongside international and close friends, and we have made the case for that repeatedly today. In a time of crisis, we should continue to take that responsibility very seriously. Equally, it is right that His Majesty’s official Opposition ask these questions of the Government—not to diminish the importance of the support being provided, but to ensure that there is clarity about the Government’s priorities, transparency about how British assistance is being delivered and accountability for the outcomes it achieves.

In a crisis of this magnitude, it is essential that assistance is properly targeted, that it reaches those in greatest need and that there is a clear understanding of how requirements are changing as the immediate emergency gives way to recovery. Can the Minister therefore set out how the FCDO is assessing the effectiveness of the UK’s response and what criteria will inform decisions about any further assistance, particularly in the light of the renewed flooding? Ultimately, our response must be judged not simply by the money committed but by the difference it makes to those affected.

I will conclude by reaffirming the Opposition’s solidarity with the people of Nepal. Britain has a proud and long-standing close friendship with Nepal. We must continue to stand alongside its people through this tragedy and the aftermath. I hope the Minister can provide the reassurance that British families and the wider Nepalese community so desperately need.

09:36

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Chris Elmore)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship for the first time, Ms McVey. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda) for securing this debate to discuss the devastating floods that struck Nepal in August. I thank Members for their contributions to what has been a thoughtful and well-informed debate and for the way in which they have spoken about the impact of this tragedy on the people of Nepal and communities here in the United Kingdom. May I pay my own tribute to the British Nepali community in the UK? Our long-standing friendship is one that we are deeply proud of, and I pay tribute to not just the people here today but those across our communities in the United Kingdom.

The UK stands with Nepal in its time of grief. Our deepest condolences are with those who have lost loved ones and their livelihoods. The scale of this tragedy has been immense. Thousands of families have been affected, communities destroyed and critical infrastructure damaged across some of Nepal’s most vulnerable regions. More than 1,455 people have tragically lost their lives, including British nationals, and many more remain missing. Our thoughts are with the thousands of Nepalis living in the UK, who have watched events unfold with deep concern and personal anguish, and I join Members in acknowledging the dedication of the search and rescue teams, emergency responders and volunteers who have worked tirelessly in extremely challenging conditions.

Against that backdrop, the United Kingdom moved quickly to support those affected. An FCDO rapid deployment team supported the consular response in the region. We are co-ordinating closely with Nepali and Chinese authorities, while specialist police family liaison officers are supporting British families in the UK. As many Members have referenced, we also announced £5 million in humanitarian assistance to support the immediate relief efforts. That funding is helping trusted humanitarian partners to provide emergency shelter, clean water and sanitation services, protection support, health assistance and other lifesaving interventions for those affected by the floods. To answer one of the shadow Minister’s questions, we are tracking the funding through those trusted UN partners and ensuring that the money is going to where it is needed. Humanitarian and engineering experts have also supported the response and assessment effort.

I would like to recognise, in particular, the remarkable response from the Government and people of Nepal. Faced with one of the most devastating disasters in the country’s recent history, Nepal’s authorities mobilised rescue operations at scale, supported displaced communities and began the immense task of recovery and reconstruction. We pay tribute to their professionalism, resilience and determination.

In answering Members’ questions as I go through my speech, I start with the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). I thank him for his warm words about me; they are reciprocal. He is a constant force in this House and a constant advocate for freedom of religion and belief. He knows of my personal commitment as the Minister responsible for this particular area of policy. Nepal is officially a secular country, but I want to reassure him that we do offer support to communities, including Christian communities, to ensure that the humanitarian funding and aid we are allocating is received in the correct way in different communities.

The UK and Nepal have a long-standing partnership on climate action. Many Members, including my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) and my hon. Friends the Members for Harrow West (Gareth Thomas) and for Basingstoke (Luke Murphy), mentioned the need for us to have more collaboration in this space, both bilaterally and multilaterally.

In Nepal and globally, climate change is increasingly becoming a national security issue, and it has been at the forefront of the new Foreign Secretary’s focus. Melting Himalayan glaciers and more extreme weather across the Hindu Kush Himalaya are driving cascading disasters, threatening lives, infrastructure, energy systems and economic growth. The recent Rasuwa-Bhote Koshi floods showed how a single climate-related event can disrupt trade, hydropower, transport and livelihoods simultaneously.

To answer questions from my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East and my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West on climate and disaster resilience, the UK Government believe that is central to how we deliver reconstruction and build our partnership with Nepal. That is not just through reconstruction but science, modelling, engineering and practical hazard intelligence and resilience.

I assure all Members that the next steps mean working bilaterally and multilaterally in a period of recovery on how we can build resilient infrastructure. Later in my speech, I will go further into how we can work multilaterally with the international financial systems to offer more support on wider reconstruction.

As climate shocks become more frequent and unpredictable, they risk eroding hard-won development gains, as has been mentioned, increasing vulnerability and imposing significant economic costs. My hon. Friends the Members for Reading Central and for Harrow West challenged me on the point that climate damage does not happen only in coastal communities but in countries impacted by melting glaciers and the wider challenges of climate change. For Nepal, that could not be more stark. Nepal is a mountainous country, and climate resilience is, therefore, not just an environmental priority but a foundation for future prosperity and stability. That is why we are repositioning elements of our development partnership to support Nepal’s recovery and resilience agenda. I pay tribute to the work of my hon. Friend the Member for Feltham and Heston (Seema Malhotra) in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, as a former Indo-Pacific Minister. She is right to highlight some of the challenges that we must now put in the multilateral space.

My right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East also challenged me on multilateral development banks and international financial institutions. The Liberal Democrat spokesperson, the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), challenged me on words to action. That is why I am pleased to confirm that on 24 September, during UN High-Level Week, the Foreign Secretary convened a multilateral meeting of Ministers from Australia, Kenya and across the European Union, and announced a specific fund from the UK Government of £333 million for climate-driven instability and resilience projects for vulnerable communities impacted by climate change. That will, of course, apply to countries such as Nepal.

No bilateral donor can finance construction at the scale required. My hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke mentioned the World Bank; it has estimated that damage and reconstruction costs run into billions of US dollars. Our role is, therefore, not simply to provide aid but to help shape much larger flows of international finance.

The Foreign Secretary has made it clear that climate and development finance must increasingly focus on preparedness and resilience. Through our engagement with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other institutions, we are encouraging approaches to invest earlier in resilience with early-warning systems, disaster-risk finance and climate adaptation, which are key to how we move our work forward internationally.

[Monica Harding]

Is the Minister confident that the work of British International Investment, particularly in Nepal, is targeted on climate resilience and adaptation?

[Chris Elmore]

It is the absolute focus. I will talk further about the Foreign Secretary’s engagement with the World Bank this week, and hope to answer her in more detail. We want international financial systems to become better at helping countries at risk to prepare for foreseeable climate shocks. That was an important part of the United Kingdom’s engagement at the UN General Assembly in September. I was pleased to meet the Nepalese Foreign Minister to discuss some of the challenges they are experiencing post the climate event, and how we can work more collaboratively.

The Foreign Secretary highlighted the strong links between environmental pressures, climate vulnerability and broader security and stability challenges. The World Bank annual meetings this week provide another opportunity to advance progress on that agenda. The Foreign Secretary will speak alongside Nepal’s Finance Minister to highlight UK support for strengthening hazard intelligence and early-warning systems in Nepal, and for ensuring that crisis financing is available when countries need it most. To answer the Liberal Democrat spokesperson’s question, I do think so, because that work is being led by the Foreign Secretary at the World Bank this week with the Nepalese Finance Minister.

Alongside our work through international institutions, we have maintained close engagement with Nepal through the communities here in the United Kingdom. Many Members rightly raised that today. As has been mentioned, the Minister for Indo-Pacific visited Nepal in the immediate aftermath of the floods, becoming the first foreign ministerial visitor and demonstrating the UK’s solidarity with Nepal at a difficult moment. As our response has evolved, Ministers have maintained regular dialogue with Nepalese community leaders, group representatives and the all-party parliamentary group, to whom I pay tribute.

On 2 September, the Minister for Consular Services, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff South and Penarth (Stephen Doughty), visited the South London Sanatan Mandir in Coulsdon to convey condolences to the affected temple community. The Minister for Indo-Pacific, my noble Friend Baroness Winterton, also held an online meeting with representatives of the Nepalese diaspora in the UK on 4 September to update them on the UK’s support. Those conversations matter. The Nepalese community in the UK maintains deep family, cultural and economic ties with Nepal, and many have been personally affected by these events. Their experiences, insights and concerns continue to inform our understanding of the situation on the ground and of the support that will be required in the months and years ahead.

Many Members have paid tribute to the Gurkhas. I would like to add my own tribute for their long-standing solidarity, not just through the British military but through our shared history across conflicts since the first world war. On pensions, I will ensure that every Member, including the shadow Minister and my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central, will get a written response from the Ministry of Defence. It is led by the Department, but I will ensure that a response is given to all hon. and right hon. colleagues.

Consular support is ongoing. UK police family liaison officers continue to support affected families in the UK where appropriate. FCDO officials continue to liaise with Nepalese and Chinese authorities to establish facts and support families, and we are aware of 36 British nationals who remain missing. As reconstruction progresses, we will continue to work through what more we can do to support families in the UK, particularly as we wait for the missing to hopefully be found.

I have some brief final points on trade and investment between Nepal and the UK. I reassure hon. Members that we are working with Nepal on what is important to them and I will keep the House updated on that work. Rather than committing to something today, it will be an ongoing piece of work that we will do with Nepal to see what works between us.

In moments of crisis, friendship is underlined not only through words of sympathy but through practical action. We will continue to use our voice in multilateral institutions and international forums to ensure that Nepal’s needs remain firmly on the international agenda. The Nepalese people have shown extraordinary courage in the face of immense tragedy and the United Kingdom stands with them as they begin to rebuild and look to the future.

10:58

[Matt Rodda]

It has been a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank Mr Speaker for granting this debate, the House and the Members who have spoken today, including the Opposition Front-Bench spokesman and the spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats. Today’s debate has raised some important issues, and like the Prime Minister, I believe that Nepal has always been there for Britain, so now Britain has to be there for Nepal. I was pleased to hear the Minister’s response, and, in particular, about the work under way this week at the UN and the World Bank, where the Foreign Secretary is working closely with the Nepalese Finance Minister. I look forward to hearing more details about that and the vital consular and reconstruction work.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered Government support for the situation in Nepal.