NEW DELHI : The Bhotekoshi River has gone back to its banks. But the August floods weren’t like the ones we’re used to. More than a thousand people dead. Many more displaced. Villages full of people, gone in minutes. The survivors still trying to figure out where to go. This was not just Nepal’s problem. It was a preview for the world. The next flood won’t stay in Nepal.
The Role of Nations
The countries that polluted the most need to cut the fastest. That means moving away from coal, oil, and gas and putting that money into clean energy like solar and wind. It means passing laws that actually force companies to stop polluting. It means setting real targets, not just making promises. For countries like Nepal, it also means building a green economy—using their rivers for hydropower in ways that don’t harm the environment.
The countries that got rich polluting need to keep their promises to the ones paying for it. Nepal has contributed less than 0.1% of the world’s historic emissions, yet it is paying one of the highest prices. Rich countries promised to help poorer nations adapt to floods, droughts, and other disasters. They need to actually deliver, not just talk about it.
No country can solve this alone. Climate change does not care about borders. A flood here becomes a food crisis there. A drought in one region becomes a migration crisis in another. That’s why cooperation is the only option. Countries need to share the technology and the money, not just the talking points. They must hold each other accountable. The Paris Agreement was a start, but paper promises don’t stop floods.
The Role of Companies
Governments set the rules. Companies do the actual polluting and the real innovating. Companies need to clean up their own mess first. Then they need to build the things that replace it.
Companies must clean up their act. That means cutting pollution across everything they make and sell, not just the parts people can see. It means telling the truth about what they emit. And it means real targets—not ones they set themselves and then quietly ignore. Greenwashing—pretending to be green while still harming the planet—has to end.
Companies must also build the alternatives. They need to develop better solar panels. They have to figure out how to grow food without draining the soil. They must develop new technologies to capture carbon. That helps build a world better prepared for the next crisis.
The Role of People
It is easy to feel powerless in the face of something this challenging. But the most important changes often start small, with people like us. What we buy, what we say, what we do together—it all adds up.
Our choices matter. Every day, we make choices that either add to the problem or help solve it. Walk or bike instead of driving. Take the bus or train. Don’t waste food. Buy fewer things, and buy ones that last. None of this fixes the problem on its own. But it cuts your own footprint—and it tells the companies and governments watching that someone is paying attention.
Our voices are our most powerful tool. Vote for leaders who take climate change seriously. Speak up. Talk to your friends and family. Join a local group that plants trees or cleans up rivers. Demand that your government make polluters pay. The story of Nepal’s flood must be told and retold. Not as a distant tragedy, but as a nearby warning.
Our collective action builds resilience. After the Bhotekoshi flood, we saw the power of community. Neighbors helping neighbors. Volunteers from across the region. A global outpouring of support. That is the spirit we need more of. Not just in a crisis like this. In our own communities, we can do the same—show up for each other before the water rises.
The Bhotekoshi is calm again. But calm isn’t the same as safe. The next flood is already forming—somewhere, in some river the world isn’t watching yet. We know what’s causing it. We know who’s paying for it. We know what has to change. The question is whether we’ll do it in time. I believe we can. Not because it will be easy, but because the alternative is a world where every river is a threat and every storm is a countdown. That’s not the world we want to leave behind for our children.
(Prashant Kumar Raut is a Nepalese citizen. He is currently a student of Bachelor’s in Environmental Science in the University of Delhi.)
