I. NATIONAL INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

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B. Policy-level institutions

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The institutions in Nepal that are directly related to environmental policy formulation, planning and programme implementation are described below.

1. Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Protection

The Parliamentary Committee on Natural Resources and Environmental Protection (PCNREP), under the chairmanship of a parliamentarian, oversees government action in initiating natural resources conservation and environmental protection measures. The Committee also gives advice to the executive branch of the government regarding appropriate measures for improving national overall environmental health. Being a legislative subunit, PCNREP can give directives to, and seek information and clarification from, the executive branch of the government.

PCNREP is headed by an independent chairperson elected by the Committee members from among the members of the House of Representatives. PCNREP has up to 11 ex-officio members, comprising the Prime Minister and other Ministers, together with 22 members of the House of Representatives nominated by the parliamentary committees of the various parties.

2. The National Development Council

The National Development Council (NDC) is the highest policy-level body. Formerly chaired by the King of Nepal, the Council is now chaired by the Prime Minister. Its mandate includes providing guidance on major policy issues and periodic plans. The membership of NDC comprises all Cabinet rank ministers, all the members of the National Planning Commission (NPC), the chairpersons of the various parliamentary committees, the chairpersons of two District Development Committees from each of the five development regions of the country, the leader of the main opposition party in the House of Representatives, the chairpersons of all national level political parties, the president of the Federation of Nepal Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and a few persons nominated from among intellectuals and representatives of other walks of life. NPC serves as the NDC secretariat.

3. The Environment Protection Council

The Environment Protection Council (EPC) is a high-level body that was created in 1992 to provide guidance on the formulation of policies, the preparation of working procedures and the implementation of policies in pursuit of the following objectives:

Effective management of natural and physical resources;
The achievement of sustainability in the capacity of all Nepalese by maintaining a balance as well as coordination between development efforts and environmental protection;
The provision of support to efforts for sustainable development through the use, management, development and protection of physical resources and heritage, taking into consideration the social, economic and cultural needs and opportunities of the present and future generations;
The timely identification of likely adverse environmental impacts from population growth, haphazard settlement and development projects, and the prevention and mitigation of such impacts;
The development of a national system for environmental planning, environmental impact assessment and evaluation, pollution control and the protection of the national heritage;
The utilization, development, management and protection of the capacity to regenerate and recycle physical resources without inflicting adverse impacts on the environment;
The implementation of special measures for the protection and promotion of rare and endangered national wildlife, plant species, biological diversity, the genetic pool, natural and cultural beauty and sites, and environmentally threatened areas, in accordance with their importance;
The preparation and improvement of the environment-related legal framework;
The development and coordination of activities undertaken by governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for the effective implementation of environmentally-related laws and policies;
The establishment and operation of an environmental protection fund;
The dissemination of information, and the improvement of education and public awareness related to the environment;
The development of human resources in the area of the environment.

Membership in EPC comprises the Ministers of several ministries, senior civil servants, representatives of NGOs and the private sector, and individual professionals.

The Ministry of Population and Environment serves as the EPC secretariat. The Ministry is also required to carry out EPC directives. The Minister, State/Assistant Minister and Secretary of the Ministry of Population and Environment are appointed as the vice-chairman, member and member-secretary of EPC, respectively, thus providing the necessary links between the two agencies.

The Prime Minister heads NDC, EPC and NPC.

4. National Planning Commission

NPC is an autonomous government body responsible for formulating policies on overall national and sectoral development. Headed by the Prime Minister, NPC includes a vice-chairman and five members nominated on an individual basis, as well as a few ex-officio members. It is primarily an advisory body with limited executive authority.

NPC tasks include: preparing the national five-year development plan which comprehensively outlines the national development goals, objectives and strategies; presenting detailed sectoral, subsectoral and cross-sectoral development strategies and programmes; and providing estimates of financial resources allocations to the programmes included in the Five-Year Plan. NPC scrutinizes and approves the annual programmes of all the ministries and parastatals, and it regularly monitors progress. All development programmes and projects undertaken in the public sector are subject to endorsement by NPC prior to implementation.

As part of the regular NPC mandate, all environmental policies, programmes and projects in the public sector are subject to review and approval by NPC before they are put into effect. There is an Environment Protection Division within NPC which is responsible for overseeing and coordinating intersectoral activities related to planning, programme budgeting and the monitoring of environment-related actions. Prior to the creation of the Ministry of Population and Environment, the division was the only national level bureaucratic entity responsible for carrying out EPC directives.

Among the policy-level institutions, PCNREP acts as a legislative entity since it is a parliamentary body. It can give directives to the government, and can question the performance of the government and other entities with respect to their mandates. On the other hand, the other three institutions are all chaired by the Prime Minister and are purely advisory entities within the executive branch of the government.