सूचक

• Nepal has ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (1992), the Paris Agreement (2015), ILO Convention No. 169, and the Convention on Biological Diversity (1992), which provide frameworks for assessing and promoting social and environmental benefits associated with environmental and climate change actions.

• The Constitution of Nepal (2015) recognises the right to live in a clean and healthy environment and establishes principles for sustainable management of natural resources, environmental protection and equitable benefit sharing from natural resource use.

• The Environment Protection Act (2019) provides the legal basis for environmental assessment and management of potential environmental impacts arising from policies, plans, programmes and projects. The Act establishes requirements for identifying, assessing and addressing potential adverse environmental impacts prior to implementation.

• The Forest Act (2019) and Forest Regulation (2022) support the conservation and sustainable management of forests, biodiversity and ecosystem services and provide the legal framework for environmental services and forest carbon programmes. The Forest Regulation (2022) requires forest carbon and emission reduction projects to avoid adverse impacts on natural forests, biodiversity and ecological systems and to respect applicable social and environmental safeguards.

• The National Forest Policy (2019) promotes sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, ecosystem restoration, gender and social inclusion, and the application of environmental and social safeguards in forest sector programmes and activities.

• The Good Governance (Management and Operation) Act (2008) complements sector-specific laws above for integrating social and environmental dimensions, through ensuring transparent, accountable, participatory, and result-oriented governance. It also provides an enabling framework for integrating social and environmental considerations into government decision-making and service delivery.

Data Sources:

• Nepal assesses the social and environmental benefits and impacts of activities primarily through its Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) process, which is legally mandated by the Environmental Protection Act (2019) and Environmental Protection Regulation (2020). This process requires comprehensive studies to identify, predict, and propose mitigation measures for potential negative impacts and to highlight positive effects before project approval. The three categories include Brief Environmental Study (BES), Initial Environmental Examination (IEE), and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), depending on the size and nature of the project. 

• Environmental assessment procedures are implemented through the responsible sectoral agencies under the coordination of the Ministry of Forests and Environment and other competent authorities as required under the Environment Protection Act (2019) and Environment Protection Regulation (2020).

• The Forest Regulation (2022) provides additional requirements for forest carbon and emission reduction projects. Rule 107(2) requires the responsible entity to ensure that the development and implementation of emission reduction (ER) programs do not cause environmental, social or cultural harm and are consistent with the conservation and sustainable management of forests, biodiversity and ecological systems. Rule 107(6) also requires that Free, Prior and Informed Consernt (FPIC) be obtained from concerned forest user groups and affected communities prior to approval of any national or international agreements related to emission reduction payments, supporting consultation on social and environmental impacts. National Guidelines on FPIC for REDD+ (2025) set out the objectives, core principles and required steps for applying FPIC in the context of REDD+.

• National Standards for Sustainable Forest Management were launched in 2024, and utilise criteria and 107 indicators to assess the social, economic and environmental benefits of Community-based Forest management (CBFM) groups. The Department of Forest and Soil Conservation is mandated to conduct the assessment or to assign it to an independent third party. 

• The National REDD+ Strategy (NRS) (2018, 2025) emphasises assessment and enhancement of environmental and social benefits (non-carbon benefits) in its vision, objectives, and strategic actions. The NRS has also given importance to social and environmental benefits through one of its guiding principles: addressing and respecting social and environmental safeguards, and through actions such as ensuring effective implementation of IEE and EIA while using forestland under nationally prioritized development projects.

• The NRS (2018) established a framework for monitoring, reporting, and verification of both the carbon and non-carbon impacts of REDD+ implementation. Section 7.1 of the updated NRS (2025) provides this framework and includes monitoring of non-carbon benefits through a community-based monitoring system monitoring of ecosystem services (e.g. biodiversity) generated through CBFM regimes.

Data Sources: