ABSTRACT
Looking into the cases in the Supreme Court of Nepal on environmental matters shows that the concept of environmental justice has been frequently mentioned in judicial decisions in Nepal but has not been thoroughly explored or defined. Environmental justice encompasses various dimensions, including distributive, procedural, and recognition, and it has implications for diverse individuals and communities. Most importantly, the Court has conceptualized local communities as monolithic, not diverse. This raises a disturbing question that goes unanswered in the court’s judgments—Are marginalized communities and individuals burdened with more than their fair share of environmental risks while enjoying fewer of the benefits than others? It is also troubling that very few environmental justice cases are brought to the court by the affected parties. Instead, mainly Kathmandu-based lawyers are filing these petitions. This suggests that the general public may not be well-informed or willing to bring cases to the court. This raises important questions about access to justice.
