The Access Initiative

Nepal

Region

South Asia

0.68

Environmental Democracy Index Score

Nepal received a fair score for the Justice pillar, but scored poorly on the Transparency and Participation pillars. While Nepalese citizens have a right to access environmental information, the government is not obliged to proactively make environmental quality and health information proactively available to the public. As for the Participation pillar, the environmental laws provide a few opportunities for the public to give input on environmental decisions, but the government is not required to proactively seek or take due account of public input. With respect to the Justice pillar, the law establishes appeal procedures when environmental information requests are denied; however, there are limited legal means of challenging government or private sector decisions. There are also no financial or gender-related assistance mechanisms in place to address barriers to accessing justice. By addressing these issues, Nepal could ensure environmental information is proactively disseminated to the public, the government incorporates public input into environmental decisions, and women and the poor can obtain redress when their environmental rights are violated.

Visit the Environmental Democracy Index to explore the EDI score.

The TAI Nepal coalition has completed one TAI assessment. The coalition worked with key members of the new Constituent Assembly to help build awareness around the importance of including access rights in Nepal’s new constitution. In November 2010, TAI Nepal held an Interaction Program for judiciary communities with the objective of strengthening capacity to realize the compensatory mechanisms under the Environment Protection Act of 1996. The program spurred further discussions on improving the implementation of compensatory provisions.

 

The TAI Nepal coalition is led by PRO PUBLIC, a non-profit, a non-governmental organization dedicated to the cause of public interest. Founded in 1991, Pro Public focuses on good governance, conflict transformation and peacebuilding, protection of natural and cultural heritage, environmental justice, pollution control, gender justice and consumer protection.

 

TAI Members

National Coalition