Exploring from a political lens, this paper examines why demonstrated CIA practices from donor financed project in Nepal have not translated into domestic regulation.
Cumulative impact assessments (CIA) have been carried out in Nepal for major infrastructure projects financed by development finance institutions (DFIs). Yet CIA remains absent as an explicit requirement from Nepal's environmental legislation, and domestically financed projects continue to rely on project-level assessment. This paper examines why demonstrated CIA practice has not translated into domestic practice focusing from a political lens. We identify interacting mechanisms involving institutional arrangements, actor incentives, political time horizons, distributional asymmetries, financing-linked assessment requirements, and domestic policy demand. Together, these mechanisms explain how existing institutional arrangements and incentives favour project-level assessment, while external financing enables CIA in selected projects without necessarily generating domestic regulatory change. It highlights the importance of examining political incentives, institutional interests, and policy priorities alongside technical feasibility when seeking to institutionalize cumulative approaches to environmental assessment.
The author is a Forest Officer in Nepal’s Forest Department, experienced in reviewing IEE and EIA documents, particularly their forest, biodiversity, and biological impact assessments.