Towards Environmental Peacebuilding in Nepal: Understanding Violence, Addressing Conflicts, and Strengthening Governance
Publisher: Centre for Social Change
Author(s): Pratiksha Giri, Dipin Subedi, Prasansa Thapa, Prakash Bhattarai, and Pawan Roy
Date: 2026
Topics: Climate Change, Conflict Causes, Conflict Prevention, Governance, Livelihoods
Countries: Nepal
This report explores environmental peacebuilding as a strategy for converting shared environmental challenges into avenues for dialogue, cooperation, and trust among conflicting groups in Nepal. It analyzes how environmental violence (manifested as ecosystem degradation, resource scarcity, and exclusionary governance) intensifies conflicts, especially in the context of climate change, historic transition to federal governance system, recent youth-led political transitions, rising labor migration, and historical inequalities. Nepal’s varied landscapes, spanning mountains, hills, and plains, sustain millions but are increasingly vulnerable to climate-driven risks such as irregular rainfall, floods, droughts, glacial melting, and landslides. These threats disproportionately burden marginalized communities, including indigenous groups, Dalits, women-headed households, and downstream farmers, who face displacement, pollution exposure, and restricted access to land, water, and forests. The study underscores Nepal’s community-based successes, like community forestry, as exemplars for peacebuilding, while drawing attention to deficiencies in policy implementation and institutional coordination that perpetuate inequities and hinder conflict mediation. Ultimately, the report provides insights to guide government, development partners, civil society, and communities in embedding environmental cooperation within sustainable peace and development frameworks.