The 2017 monsoon in Nepal brought incessant rainfall within a very compressed calendar, resulting in flash floods and landslides across a vast swathe of Terai’s plains. An Initial Rapid Assessment (IRA) by the Ministry of Home Affairs showed that the disaster claimed 141 lives, injured 117 persons, displaced over 460,900 people, and left 24 missing. Damage to houses, infrastructure, and productive resources was severe with 65,000 houses destroyed and over 120,100 partially damaged.

Amarnath Jha, the plaintiff in this case, was from Saptari, the region that was perhaps worst affected by the floods. Days of unrelenting rainfall there led rivers to burst across their banks, inundating houses and blocking critical medical care for inhabitants. Jha, in his initial appeal argued that flooding and the subsequent inefficiency by the Government of Nepal to coordinate humanitarian aid and build appropriate embankments resulted in inhabitants having to drink unsafe rainwater and starve. 

The Court, taking note of this, issued an interim order which held that Article 16 of the Constitution which guarantees the right to live with dignity, Article 35 which ensures the right to basic health and emergency health services, and Article 36 as well as 37 which guarantees the right to food and shelter had been violated as a result of the government’s failure to initiate flood mapping and mitigation measures. 

Moreover, the subsequent full judgement particularly took note of how climate change will impact rainfall, snowmelt, and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOCFs) in the Himalayas leading to increased risk of flooding in urban and rural areas. As such, the judgement recalled the Government’s obligation under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992 to address the impacts of climate change on water resources and agriculture, to create a comprehensive and integrated plan for the protection and rehabilitation of areas particularly affected by drought and floods. It also referenced Article 8 of the Paris Agreement, to which Nepal is party, which underscores the importance of emergency preparedness, early warning systems, and comprehensive risk assessment. In keeping with this, it also urged the Government to comply with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Yokohama Guidelines for Natural Disaster Prevention that outlines the sovereign responsibility of each state to protect its citizens from natural disasters. 

Further, in recognizing this to be the first case of its kind and cognizant of how these disputes will likely become more common in the future, the judgement held that pursuant to Section 26 and 28 of the Environmental Protection Act, 2019 all three levels of the federal government are to be held responsible for developing policies, strategies, and action plans to reduce the adverse effects and risks caused by climate change. Finally, it emphasized the increasing interconnectedness between environment, climate change and human rights law and how the Court must exercise its authority to protect public interest and environmental justice.

In the final judgment the bench issued an order of mandamus to ensure not just immediate relief packages but also long term rehabilitation to the victims; and, to reduce the damage caused by flooding of the Khado River by constructing dams and embankments in places where there is risk of flood.

Amarnath Jha v. Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers

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Amarnath Jha v. Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers - judgment

Filed

Nepal

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

A loan is a policy instrument where funds are provided to a borrower with the expectation of repaying the principal plus interest.

Financial support to help individuals manage the effects of unexpected events, securing their livelihoods and increasing the resilience of people and businesses to the changing climate. It’s especially vital in developing regions where everyday risks, climate-related weather extremes, or crop failures can push people into poverty. Without insurance, people may have to resort to selling assets or cutting consumption to cope with losses.

An integrated system of hazard monitoring, forecasting and prediction, that enables individuals, communities, governments, businesses and others to take timely action to reduce disaster risks in advance of hazardous events.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater systems to climate change.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

Actions to adapt and increase the resilience of rural and urban infrastructure and settlements to climate change.

Coastal zone and marine-related actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience to climate change

Actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience of societies and the economy to climate change.

Actions or measures to adapt freshwater, coastal and marine systems to climate change.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Social protection systems consist of policies that help people manage social risks in order to prevent poverty and maintain decent incomes and living standards

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

People who have left their homes, whether through force, voluntarily, or a mixture of both

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Activities of industries that extract natural resources, such as mining, oil, and gas, for commercial use.

This sector involves managing waste treatment, sanitation, pollution control and environmental cleanup.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector provides communication services, software development, and IT solutions.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Activities of government agencies and institutions that provide public services, enforce laws and manage public resources.

This sector includes firms and individuals offering specialised expertise in fields such as law, accounting, consulting, science and engineering.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

This sector involves the distribution, treatment, and conservation of water resources.

This sector provides medical services, manufactures medical equipment, and develops pharmaceuticals to maintain and improve health.

Any substance with chemical properties that can cause physical harm to people or damage the environment, including ammonia, carbon monoxide, phosphine, chlorine, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, pesticides, dioxins, microplastics, benzene, asbestos, aflatoxins, fluoride, methanol, and toxins from marine sources.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Heavy precipitation refers to any form of weather where substances fall from the sky, including rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

The cryosphere is the frozen part of the Earth—it includes sea ice, glaciers, snow, and ice sheets. It helps regulate the climate and weather by reflecting sunlight. Rising temperatures are causing melting, leading to sea ice loss, glacier collapse, and glacier landslides and avalanches. This threatens the livelihoods of around 700 million people who rely on the cryosphere for food, water security, and cultural practices.

Geohazards are adverse geological phenomenon's that are capable of causing widespread damage or loss to property, life and the environment, such as earthquakes, volcano eruptions and tsunamis. Climate change can increase the frequency and severity of some geohazards, such as landslides, and soil erosion.

Amarnath Jha v. Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers - judgment

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance