KATHMANDU, Jan 29: A group of Members of Parliaments (MPs) have registered a proposal of urgent public importance, demanding a discussion on the creation of a law related to environmental auditing in the House of Representatives. The group led by CPN-UML lawmaker Sunita Baral registered the proposal at the House of Representatives Secretariat on Wednesday.
This proposal of urgent public importance, put forward by MP Baral, is supported by UML MP Thakur Prasad Gaire; Nepali Congress MP Pratima Gautam; Maoist Center MP Madhav Sapkota; Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) MP Nisha Dangi; and Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) MP Bina Lama.
The proposal states that although Nepal has a system for assessing environmental impact through processes such as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Preliminary Environmental Examination (IEE), there is no process for continuous monitoring of environmental impacts and ensuring accountability through environmental audits.
Stating that development and environment are complementary to each other, the lawmakers have also raised the challenge of prioritizing development work along with ensuring the environment.
The proposal states, “Environmental degradation and overexploitation of natural resources are becoming a major challenge in the course of development and industrialization. Its impact is being felt at the community level. In addition, the cost of environmental degradation has become much greater than economic development.”
In such a situation, the lawmakers are concerned that the problem will only worsen if the government does not implement environmental audits. “Legal clarity is needed for this. Environmental audits are considered an important process globally. This process helps in reducing the negative impacts of environmental impact,” the lawmakers’ proposal states.