Civil society

Critics from environmental organisations and civil society have described the current legal interpretation as a “simplification that fails to respect the Aravallis’ complex ecology”, warning that it could gradually weaken the shield that the mountain system provides against desertification, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss.

International development partners, including the World Bank, have also entered the picture with initiatives designed to boost jobs and trade, although such efforts are longer-term in nature and their impact on immediate job creation is still unfolding.

Nepal’s efforts are guided by the Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act of 2007, which imposes up to 20 years’ imprisonment for offenders.

Long-term climate risk, particularly heat exposure, also carries socio-economic consequences, threatening jobs, livelihoods and economic growth if unchecked.

The case has sparked alarm about shrinking civic space, erosion of rule of law and misuse of cybercrime legislation to criminalise dissent.

Despite short-term improvements when winds disperse pollutants, Pakistan’s larger “smog season,” which typically lasts from October through February, has become a recurring annual crisis with economic and social costs that reverberate beyond public health into education, productivity and infrastructure planning.

The accord, signed at Singha Durbar on Wednesday, comes three months after mass protests shook the country.

According to the Secretary-General’s report submitted on 3 December 2025, the Taliban leadership – including the supreme leader’s inner circle – has intensified efforts to consolidate control through religious-guided governance, increased oversight, and sweeping policy changes.