Indigenous climate activist Pema Wangmo Lama on flood recovery, loans and who gets to say no to hydropower

AI Summary

Indigenous climate activist Pema Wangmo Lama says Nepal’s post-flood recovery prioritizes infrastructure over affected communities. She also questions whether safeguards adequately protect Indigenous people near hydropower projects and whether communities can meaningfully refuse them.

Lama, who recently attended the UN biodiversity talks, says post-disaster work in Nepal focuses on infrastructure rather than communities, and that safeguards for Indigenous people near hydropower projects rarely work in practice.