Tamakoshi V Hydroelectric Project: Early Warning Case Study

This case study on the Tamakoshi V Hydroelectric Project aims to analyze the impacts of the Project during its early stages of implementation in order to identify potential gaps in the accountability framework for the Project in line with the policies of its financier Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) as well as wider impacts of the Project in the context of cumulative impacts of the cascade dams being built or planned in the Tamakoshi River. Further, the case study seeks to look into the Project to determine if it is in line with the environmental sustainability and fiscal stability of Nepal.

The case study calls for calls for serious reassessment of the Project on the grounds of outdated feasibility study and inadequate information disclosure, lack of participation and consent of the affected communities, and potential cumulative environmental harms, among other concerns. It is based on desk review of the official Project documents, relevant policies of the AIIB and laws and policies of Nepal as well as media, governmental and non-governmental reports on the Project and other associated projects. While CEMSOJ has made initial efforts to reach out to the affected communities of the Project to understand their perspectives of and aspirations with the Project at the ground level, lack of such information gathered so far poses a major limitation for this study . In order to address that, it is planned that this study will later be complemented by field visits to the affected communities.

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Nepal’s Supreme Court directs the government to make legal, policy and implementation arrangements in line with Paris Agreement on climate change

Nepal’s Supreme Court has issued a directive order to the Government to make legal, policy and implementation arrangements in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change (also referred to as the Paris Climate Accords).

In its decision made dated 27 April on the public interest litigation filed by CEMSOJ, the Supreme Court ruled issued a directive order in the name of the Government to make necessary legal, policy and implementation arrangements in compliance with the commitments of international treaties and conventions, including the Paris Agreement, to conserve the environment, to sell, trade or consume forest products, including carbon, to arrange a fair distribution system of benefits.

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सर्वोच्च अदालतद्वारा जलवायु परिवर्तन सम्बन्धि पेरिस सम्झौता लगायतका प्रतिबद्धता अनुकूल हुने गरी आवश्यक कानूनी, नीतिगत तथा कार्यान्वयन व्यवस्था मिलाउन सरकारलाई निर्देशनात्मक आदेश

१ सेप्टेम्बर २०२३, काठमाडौँ 

नेपालको सर्वोच्च अदालतले जलवायु परिवर्तन सम्बन्धि पेरिस सम्झौता लगायतका अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय सन्धि सम्झौताका प्रतिबद्धता अनुकूल हुने गरी आवश्यक कानूनी, नीतिगत तथा कार्यान्वयन व्यवस्था मिलाउन सरकारलाई निर्देशनात्मक आदेश जारी हुने ठहर गरेको छ । सामुदायिक सशक्तिकरण तथा सामाजिक न्याय फाउन्डेशन (सेम्सोज)द्वारा दर्ता गरिएको सार्वजनिक सरोकारको रिटमाथि यही बैशाख १४ गते (सन् २०२३ अप्रिल २७) फैसला गर्दै पर्यावरण संरक्षण गर्न, कार्वन लगायत वन पैदावारको माध्यमबाट उत्पादन हुने बस्तु/पदार्थको बिक्री व्यापार, कारोवार गर्न वा उपभोगमा ल्याउन, लाभको न्यायोचि वितरण व्यवस्था मिलाउन तत् सम्बन्धमा जलवायु परिवर्तन सम्बन्धि पेरिस सम्झौता लगायतका अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय सन्धि सम्झौताका प्रतिबद्धता अनुकूल हुने गरी आवश्यक कानूनी, नीतिगत तथा कार्यान्वयन व्यवस्था मिलाउन सरकारको नाउँमा निर्देशनात्मक आदेश जारी हुने ठहर गरेको हो ।

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AIPNEE and CEMSOJ’s joint submission to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights for its forthcoming country visit to Japan

Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) and Community Empowerment and Social Justice Network (CEMSOJ) made a joint submission to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights on Monday for its forthcoming official country visit to Japan. The submission particularly focuses on the roles of Japanese institutions in providing assistance or financing projects that harm Indigenous Peoples in countries across Asia and the lack of accountability of those institutions to remedy such harms. It is based on our experiences of working with Indigenous communities that have faced or are facing human rights impacts due to energy and other projects reportedly or being (co-)financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)[1] and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)[2].

The submission details the challenges that are faced in seeking accountability of these mechanisms and accordingly provides recommendations.

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AIPNEE and CEMSOJ’s joint submission on Development Finance Institutions and Human Rights to the UN

Below is the joint submission made by Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) and Community Empowerment and Social Justice Network (CEMSOJ) to the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights for their forthcoming report on “Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Human Rights”. The submission particularly focuses on the rights of indigenous peoples based on the experiences of AIPNEE and CEMSOJ of working with indigenous and other local communities that have faced or are facing human rights impacts due to energy and trade facilitation projects financed by various DFIs.

Click here for the PDF of the submission.

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CEMSOJ’s comments for the update of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises

Read below the CEMSOJ’s submission during the public consultation for the targeted update of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The submission is based on CEMSOJ’s experience of using, or challenges thereto, the Guidelines while supporting a land rights advocacy campaign struggle to restore a historical pond and surrounding indigenous lands encroached by a recently built mega business complex called Chhaya Center that houses a local franchise of Marriott International in the tourist district of Kathmandu in Nepal. For more information about the campaign, see https://cemsoj.wordpress.com/tag/chhaya-center/.

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