Building resilience of sanitation systems and services to changing climate is necessary to ensuring continuity of essential sanitation services in the face of hazardous events. An approach towards this solution is to create a robust enabling environment through policies for planning and implementing adaptation measures. The objective of this study is to review the climate change and water and sanitation policies in Nepal to assess the adequacy of the documents in addressing climate resilience in sanitation systems and services, with focus on urban on-site sanitation. This paper is based on desk review of existing policy and plan documents related to climate change and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) in Nepal. The review has revealed that sanitation and climate change are addressed only to a limited extent, while focus on urban on-site sanitation is inadequate. These documents are therefore insufficient to provide guidance to build resilience in urban on-site sanitation systems and services. The paper concludes that sanitation-specific policies and programmes can tackle the sanitation challenges more effectively and address climate-related vulnerabilities in urban on-site sanitation systems and services. Enhanced collaboration among different stakeholders can create an environment conducive for policy changes and investments.

  • The policy environment is inadequate for providing guidance towards resilient urban sanitation systems and services.

  • An effort to highlight the policy environment on urban sanitation and provisions to make urban sanitation climate resilient.

  • Contribute to initiate dialogue to establish resilient sanitation systems and services, the success of which can contribute in policy revisions.

The term resilience has recently gained traction within the climate and development communities as a guiding framework to design climate-resilient development policies and programmes (Clare et al., 2017). While various definitions of resilience exist (DFID, 2011; USAID, 2022; OECD, 2023), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) definition is the most operational definition around the climate change discourse (IPCC, 2022):

the capacity of interconnected social, economic and ecological systems to cope with a hazardous event, trend or disturbance, responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain their essential function, identity and structure

The definition acknowledges that while systems may experience challenges or short-term disruptions, they have the capacity to recover from failures (OECD, 2018) and to adapt and transform to prevent future failures (World Health Organisation, 2015). Resilience in the context of sanitation means planning, designing, building, operating, and managing sanitation infrastructure and services in a way that anticipates, prepares for, and adapts to potential disruptions (OECD, 2018).

The Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP) emphasises the importance of safely managing human waste across the sanitation service chain to attain Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 6.2 on achieving access to adequate and equitable sanitation for all by 2030 (UNICEF, 2020). The entire sanitation service chain must be considered when planning and designing sanitation interventions, as technologies and management approaches for each component are closely interconnected (USAID, 2020). Furthermore, climate change adaptation objectives should be integrated both in the planning, design, construction, and operation phases to enhance resilience of the sanitation systems and services (WHO, 2022b).

The Constitution of Nepal recognises the right of every individual to live in a healthy and clean environment and the government has committed to achieving the SDG 6.2 by 2030. In Nepal, there has been a commendable reduction in the practice of open defaecation from 69% in 2000 to 7% in 2022, with 51% of the population having access to a safely managed sanitation service and 30% of the population utilising basic services. On-site sanitation contributes to 86% of the sanitation facilities in the country with only 5% going to the sewer network (WHO & UNICEF n.d.). Even though on-site sanitation coverage is high, the government's focus on sanitation management has been primarily on the sewer system, e.g. through establishment of wastewater treatment plants. There have been no noteworthy initiatives with regard to on-site sanitation and faecal sludge management. This is evident from the descriptions of key initiatives on sanitation in the Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Sector Development Plan (SDP) 2024–2043 (Government of Nepal, n.d.e).

Achieving sanitation targets is challenging under the influence of climate change (UN, 2023) and climate induced hazards can potentially reverse the progress made so far in improving sanitation access (Kohlitz et al., 2017). The evidence of potential impacts of climate change on sanitation is growing (Willetts et al., 2022). Previous research has (i) provided evidence on the ways climate hazards disrupt sanitation services (Mills et al., 2020; Hyde-Smith et al., 2022), (ii) explored the resilience of sanitation technologies under climate change impacts and provided potential adaptation options and strategies (Howard et al., 2010; Luh et al., 2017; Fleming et al., 2019), and (iii) explored the vulnerability and resilience of sanitation systems (Sherpa et al., 2014). Similarly, several methods have been explored to increase the resilience of sanitation to climate change (Howard et al., 2010; Birchall & Bonnett, 2021; Keshavarz & Moqadas, 2021). Despite the increasing awareness, understanding of the potential effects of climate change on urban sanitation services and their management is still relatively limited (Hyde-Smith et al., 2022).

Nepal is experiencing an increased frequency of water-induced disasters due to changing climate increasing the risks of climate-induced hazards (Karki et al., 2009) and it is ranked the 10th most affected country in the world (Eckstein et al., 2021). The country is highly vulnerable mainly due to its fragile topography, climate-sensitive livelihoods, and the limited adaptive capacity of its people (Government of Nepal, 2020). It is already witnessing the impacts of climate change in various sectors such as agriculture, health, forests, pasture, and fuel availability (Karki et al., 2009). More extreme events in the future are expected to affect the development sectors such as water, disaster management, energy, biodiversity, agriculture, health, urban planning, and livelihoods (Ministry of Forest and Environment, 2019). However, there has been no analysis in the field of sanitation, and what exists on WASH has a limited focus on sanitation, as is evident in Ahmad et al. (2018).

In Nepal, there is a growing realisation of the need for policies and programmes to adapt to climate change and to minimise its impacts through coordinated efforts with multi-sectoral stakeholders and the international community (Government of Nepal, 2019). However, even when the significance of incorporating climate change adaptation into sector policies is acknowledged, such integration is not adequately reflected in practice (Ranabhat et al., 2018). This reflects wider evidence that water and sanitation as well as climate policies currently exhibit limited emphasis on climate change and sanitation. For instance, in Bangladesh, while more recent policy documents have started acknowledging climate resilience of sanitation (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, 2021; Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, 2022), the linkage between climate change and sanitation remains limited. Some of the key climate change documents in India have not addressed sanitation in their strategies or missions (Government of India, n.d.; Government of India, 2022). These examples indicate that sanitation has not yet taken up a prominent position in the climate change agenda in other parts of the region. This also highlights a global gap in addressing the interplay of climate change and sanitation.

The integrated and indivisible nature of the SDGs means that each of the goals and targets depends upon and influences the others (Allen et al., 2018). SDG 13 on climate change calls for ‘urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts’ through ‘strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries’. Linking the development in sanitation with the SDG 13 targets means that the sanitation sector can make considerable progress to ‘strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards’ (The Global Goals, 2023). A key action to build climate resilience of sanitation would be integrating sanitation into national adaptation plans and nationally determined contributions and investing in building resilience of services (WHO, 2022a). It is equally important for each sector to incorporate climate change measures within its individual policy framework, including the sanitation sector (Vij et al., 2018; Nepal, 2019; The Global Goals, 2023).

In the backdrop where Nepal is a country facing both substantial threats from climate change and major deficits in sanitation and specifically in managing on-site sanitation, the objective of this study is to examine the climate change policies and sanitation policies in Nepal to assess the integration of sanitation and climate change, respectively, in these policies for climate resilience in sanitation, with focus on urban on-site sanitation. The planning guidelines developed by the government were examined to see if they provided adequate guidance for planning climate-resilient sanitation plans. The key research question we address is to what extent does the current suite of policies and guidelines support the development of a more climate-resilient sanitation sector in Nepal? The study sought to answer this question through an analysis of policy and planning documents on the basis that such documents play an important role in framing investments and actions on the ground.

This paper is based on a desk review of policy and plan documents related to climate change and WASH. The review process involved compiling a list of policies and legal frameworks on WASH, dating from 1992, which is the oldest date for which relevant policy documents on sanitation are readily available, to 2023. The first climate change policy in Nepal was formulated in 2011. Therefore, the climate change policy and plan document was referred to from 2011 onwards. The list was developed through a review of published government documents, policies, and other policy review reports. The final compilation consisted of 31 documents (Supplementary material, Table S1). Softcopies of these documents were collected through web searches of relevant ministries and departments, the web portals of UN and development agencies, and email correspondence with professional contacts. Figure 1 provides a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram of the document search and screening for the review. Although this was not a systematic review, we applied the PRISMA flow diagram as the clearest way to show how we searched and selected documents for review (Page et al. 2021).
Fig. 1

PRISMA flow diagram to show the document search and screening for policy and related legal documents.

Fig. 1

PRISMA flow diagram to show the document search and screening for policy and related legal documents.

Close modal

The selected documents were reviewed focused on the following key terms: ‘sanitation’, ‘on-site sanitation’, ‘sanitation systems and services’, ‘climate adaptation’, ‘mitigation’, ‘resilience’, ‘planning,’ and ‘financing’. A template for policy review was developed in a Word document. For each document, basic information such as the title, vision/goal, and objectives were recorded in the template. Each document was reviewed to capture what it said about sanitation, if it specifically addressed on-site sanitation, whether it referred to sanitation systems and services, and made provisions for planning sanitation across the sanitation service chain. Finally, references made to climate change and resilience of sanitation systems and services were captured. Similarly, each climate change document was reviewed to capture what it mentioned for sanitation or sanitation components in its resilience/mitigation strategies or provisions.

A WASH policy or plan was considered to have adequately addressed climate resilience in sanitation if it clearly provided details on the issues of each component of the sanitation service chain for on-site sanitation including the sanitation services and provided clear guidance to address the issues and integrate resilience across the sanitation service chain. When a policy or plan did not cover all of this, but there was partial discussion on sanitation or if clear guidance for climate resilience was not provided for all components of sanitation, it was considered inadequate. If one or several terms of interest was mentioned with no or partial discussion, we assessed this as having limited coverage. Where the term climate change was absent, we recorded it as absent.

Similarly, a climate change policy or plan was considered to have adequately addressed climate resilience in sanitation if it provided guidance to integrate resilience across the sanitation service chain. When a policy or plan did not provide clear guidance for climate resilience for all components of the sanitation service chain, it was considered inadequate. If one or several terms of interest was mentioned, with no or partial discussion, we assessed this as having limited coverage. Where the term sanitation was absent, we recorded it as absent.

This section is divided into two parts where the first part presents findings from a review of the climate change policy and plans while the second part discusses a review of the WASH policy and plans. It summarises the content of the climate change and WASH policy and plans on the provision for urban on-site sanitation and its resilience to climate change.

Climate change policy and plans

The Government of Nepal recognises climate change adaptation as vital to safeguarding vulnerable communities, ecosystems, and climate-sensitive sectors from the impacts of climate change (Government of Nepal, 2020). However, climate change policy and plans in the country make little or no reference to sanitation. As a response to the changing climate, Nepal has made various commitments both at the international and regional levels and is actively working to address climate change by formulating policies, revisiting institutional arrangements, and strengthening its programme development and implementation (Nepal, 2019). Since the ratification of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1995, Nepal has submitted an Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) in 2016, a Second NDC in 2020, and developed a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2021–2050 in 2021. The NAP 2021–2050 (Government of Nepal, n.d.b) is an overarching adaptation strategic instrument in alignment with Nepal's NDC. It has developed priority adaptation programmes in the thematic and inter-thematic areas identified in the National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) 2019. Table 1 summarises the key components of sanitation addressed by the climate change policy and plans.

Table 1

Summary of climate change policies and plans in reference to sanitation components.

Policy/PlansComponents relevant to sanitation
National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) (2019) 
  • 1. Objective: Enhance climate change adaptation of people and build resilience of ecosystems by promoting green economy; mobilising international climate funds and national and private sector finance; supported by research for technology development and by integrating climate change into policies, strategies, plans, and programme at all levels of states and sectors

  • 2. Highlights collaboration and cooperation among relevant stakeholders for climate adaptation and mitigation

  • 3. Has proposed policies, strategies, and working policies in eight thematic and four cross thematic areas – sanitation is included in the water, health, and sanitation thematic area

  • 4. No specific mention of sanitation, but there is reference to proper management of harmful and hazardous waste and the energy generation from waste

 
Second Nationally Determined Contribution (2020) 
  • 1. Vision: Achieve socioeconomic prosperity by building a resilient society and formulating a long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategy to achieve net zero GHG emission by 2030

  • 2. Under mitigation component: ‘By 2025, 380 million liters/day of wastewater will be treated before being discharged, and 60,000 cubic meters/year of faecal sludge will be managed’, which together ‘will reduce around 258 Gg CO2 eq. compared to BAU’

  • 3. Conditional target: By 2030, create an enabling environment for both public and private sectors to treat industrial and municipal waste, including faecal sludge; and focus on co-production of energy and organic fertiliser from solid waste, wastewater, and faecal sludge

  • 4. By 2025, climate risk assessment mechanisms will be integrated into WASH programming and implementation cycle

  • 5. Sets out clear roles and responsibilities for implementation of NDC through federal, provincal, and local governments in collaboration with relevant stakeholders and in coordination with the different climate change councils and committees

 
National Adaption Plan 2021–2050 
  • 1. Vision: contribute to socioeconomic prosperity of a nation by building a climate-resilient society and reducing risks of climate change impacts on people and ecosystems by integrating adaptation across sectors and levels of government

  • 2. Aim: builds on the goal of the Climate Change Policy, 2019, and aims to build adaptation capacity and resilience of key natural, social, and economic sectors and service providers; integrate climate change in policies, strategies, plans, and programmes of all sectors at all levels; ensure equitable resource mobilisation and distribution of resources through national, international financing on research, technology, and services on climate change adaptation

  • 3. Has proposed programmes for research, innovation, and development for climate resilience in water, sanitation, and health systems.

  • 4. There is lack of focus on sanitation in the WASH component

  • 5. Capacity building is a key activity to facilitate mainstreaming climate adaptation in policies, plans, and budget and to adopt innovative technologies

 
Policy/PlansComponents relevant to sanitation
National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) (2019) 
  • 1. Objective: Enhance climate change adaptation of people and build resilience of ecosystems by promoting green economy; mobilising international climate funds and national and private sector finance; supported by research for technology development and by integrating climate change into policies, strategies, plans, and programme at all levels of states and sectors

  • 2. Highlights collaboration and cooperation among relevant stakeholders for climate adaptation and mitigation

  • 3. Has proposed policies, strategies, and working policies in eight thematic and four cross thematic areas – sanitation is included in the water, health, and sanitation thematic area

  • 4. No specific mention of sanitation, but there is reference to proper management of harmful and hazardous waste and the energy generation from waste

 
Second Nationally Determined Contribution (2020) 
  • 1. Vision: Achieve socioeconomic prosperity by building a resilient society and formulating a long-term low greenhouse gas emission development strategy to achieve net zero GHG emission by 2030

  • 2. Under mitigation component: ‘By 2025, 380 million liters/day of wastewater will be treated before being discharged, and 60,000 cubic meters/year of faecal sludge will be managed’, which together ‘will reduce around 258 Gg CO2 eq. compared to BAU’

  • 3. Conditional target: By 2030, create an enabling environment for both public and private sectors to treat industrial and municipal waste, including faecal sludge; and focus on co-production of energy and organic fertiliser from solid waste, wastewater, and faecal sludge

  • 4. By 2025, climate risk assessment mechanisms will be integrated into WASH programming and implementation cycle

  • 5. Sets out clear roles and responsibilities for implementation of NDC through federal, provincal, and local governments in collaboration with relevant stakeholders and in coordination with the different climate change councils and committees

 
National Adaption Plan 2021–2050 
  • 1. Vision: contribute to socioeconomic prosperity of a nation by building a climate-resilient society and reducing risks of climate change impacts on people and ecosystems by integrating adaptation across sectors and levels of government

  • 2. Aim: builds on the goal of the Climate Change Policy, 2019, and aims to build adaptation capacity and resilience of key natural, social, and economic sectors and service providers; integrate climate change in policies, strategies, plans, and programmes of all sectors at all levels; ensure equitable resource mobilisation and distribution of resources through national, international financing on research, technology, and services on climate change adaptation

  • 3. Has proposed programmes for research, innovation, and development for climate resilience in water, sanitation, and health systems.

  • 4. There is lack of focus on sanitation in the WASH component

  • 5. Capacity building is a key activity to facilitate mainstreaming climate adaptation in policies, plans, and budget and to adopt innovative technologies

 

The NCCP 2019 (Government of Nepal, 2019) provides an opportunity to integrate climate change into policies, strategies, plans, and programmes. Although the NCCP 2019 does not make reference to sanitation, the subsequent plans developed, for example, NAP 2021–2050, provide the basis for integrating climate adaptation and mitigation into WASH plans and programmes, although there is a limited focus on sanitation. The NDC 2020 (Government of Nepal, 2020) places a priority on reducing greenhouse gases (GHGs) from sanitation rather than a focus on resilience. Nevertheless, it provides the basis for the sanitation sector to plan for FSM and to explore the potential for co-treatment of faecal sludge with other streams of waste for generation of resources.

WASH policy and plans

Nepal's sanitation policy dates back to the early 1990s, with the first policy developed in 1994 to promote sanitation, with an emphasis on rural areas. Urban water supply and sanitation were only addressed in policies developed after 2009. The first Joint Sector Review (JSR) process in 2011 concluded that there was a gap of a strategic framework and an approach to improve performance and effectiveness in the delivery of WASH services (Government of Nepal n.d.c). The JSR process was established to assess sector performance and policy constraints and to promote a sector-wide approach in the WASH sector (WaterAid, 2016).

The new constitution of Nepal was promulgated in 2015, and the sanitation sector was restructured and decentralised. To ensure the provision of WASH services in line with the new constitution, the WASH policy and planning frameworks underwent a review process. The aim was to develop a single water and sanitation law with associated rules, a new water and sanitation policy, and a revised national WASH SDP. This exercise replaced multiple existing laws with a unified law and consolidated policies on urban and rural sanitation into one coherent framework (WHO, 2019). The Water Supply and Sanitation Act (WSSA) 2022 and the National Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Policy (NWSSHP) 2023 have been endorsed. The SDP, which was initially designed for the period 2016–2030, has been revised for the period 2024–2043, but has yet to be endorsed. Table 2 summarises the main sanitation and climate change components of the water and sanitation policy and guidelines.

Table 2

Summary of water and sanitation policies and plans in reference to sanitation and climate change components.

Policy/PlansComponents relevant to sanitation
Water Supply and Sanitation Act (WSSA) 2079 (2022) 
  • 1. Goal: Ensure the provision of clean and quality drinking water and sanitation services and provide the necessary provisions for sewage and wastewater management

  • 2. Defines sanitation service as maintaining environmental cleanliness through wastewater management and drainage and also refers to the construction, development, and promotion of drainage system, wastewater treatment system, and public toilet to preserve water resources

 
National Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Policy (NWSSHP) 2080 (2023) 
  • 1. Goal: Providing safe drinking water and sanitation services to all by 2100 BS (2044/45 AD) while achieving the sectoral goal of sustainable development

  • 2. Mentions about promotion of on-site sanitation facilities, construction of faecal sludge treatment plants, and generation of by-products from treating faecal sludge including other waste streams, but fails to mention about service provision

  • 3. Emphasises the development of WASH plans at the three tiers of government (federal, provincal, and local). It proposes developing municipality-wide inclusive sanitation plans as an integral part of the WASH plan

  • 4. Highlights the need for enhancing the capacity of communities and the local governments to implement measures for both mitigating and adapting to natural disasters and climate change impacts

  • 5. Mentions about maintaining resilience of services by including climate change and disaster risk reduction management in the WASH service

  • 6. Makes reference to use of climate friendly technologies for WASH-related infrastructure design, construction, and operation

  • 7. Under financing mechanism, mentions establishment of climate adaptation and disaster management fund to implement climate change and disaster-related projects

  • 8. Refers to inter-sectoral coordination to make the service effective and to optimise benefits from WASH services

 
Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Sector Development Plan 2024–2043 
  • 1. Goal: Ensure that every individual has access to improved sanitation facilities and enhance the climate resilience of WASH infrastructure to withstand the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events by 2043

  • 2. Outline the strategic priorities, policies, and actions necessary to achieve universal access to safe water, improved sanitation, and enhanced hygiene practices

 
WASH Plan Development Guideline (WPDG) 2076 (2019) 
  • 1. Provides a stepwise planning process, lacks clarity in its process description to enable planning at the sanitation systems and services level

  • 2. On climate change: Refers to addressing the interlinked issues such as climate change adaption in WASH as a key objective with no further discussion about it in the document

 
CWIS Plan Guideline (CPG) 2021 (draft) 
  • 1. The draft guideline is planned to support local governments prepare their CWIS plan in alignment with the WASH plan for delivery of safely managed sanitation services

  • 2. Provides a stepwise planning process, but lacks clarity in its process description to enable planning at the sanitation systems and services level

 
Policy/PlansComponents relevant to sanitation
Water Supply and Sanitation Act (WSSA) 2079 (2022) 
  • 1. Goal: Ensure the provision of clean and quality drinking water and sanitation services and provide the necessary provisions for sewage and wastewater management

  • 2. Defines sanitation service as maintaining environmental cleanliness through wastewater management and drainage and also refers to the construction, development, and promotion of drainage system, wastewater treatment system, and public toilet to preserve water resources

 
National Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Policy (NWSSHP) 2080 (2023) 
  • 1. Goal: Providing safe drinking water and sanitation services to all by 2100 BS (2044/45 AD) while achieving the sectoral goal of sustainable development

  • 2. Mentions about promotion of on-site sanitation facilities, construction of faecal sludge treatment plants, and generation of by-products from treating faecal sludge including other waste streams, but fails to mention about service provision

  • 3. Emphasises the development of WASH plans at the three tiers of government (federal, provincal, and local). It proposes developing municipality-wide inclusive sanitation plans as an integral part of the WASH plan

  • 4. Highlights the need for enhancing the capacity of communities and the local governments to implement measures for both mitigating and adapting to natural disasters and climate change impacts

  • 5. Mentions about maintaining resilience of services by including climate change and disaster risk reduction management in the WASH service

  • 6. Makes reference to use of climate friendly technologies for WASH-related infrastructure design, construction, and operation

  • 7. Under financing mechanism, mentions establishment of climate adaptation and disaster management fund to implement climate change and disaster-related projects

  • 8. Refers to inter-sectoral coordination to make the service effective and to optimise benefits from WASH services

 
Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Sector Development Plan 2024–2043 
  • 1. Goal: Ensure that every individual has access to improved sanitation facilities and enhance the climate resilience of WASH infrastructure to withstand the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events by 2043

  • 2. Outline the strategic priorities, policies, and actions necessary to achieve universal access to safe water, improved sanitation, and enhanced hygiene practices

 
WASH Plan Development Guideline (WPDG) 2076 (2019) 
  • 1. Provides a stepwise planning process, lacks clarity in its process description to enable planning at the sanitation systems and services level

  • 2. On climate change: Refers to addressing the interlinked issues such as climate change adaption in WASH as a key objective with no further discussion about it in the document

 
CWIS Plan Guideline (CPG) 2021 (draft) 
  • 1. The draft guideline is planned to support local governments prepare their CWIS plan in alignment with the WASH plan for delivery of safely managed sanitation services

  • 2. Provides a stepwise planning process, but lacks clarity in its process description to enable planning at the sanitation systems and services level

 

The WSSA 2022 (Government of Nepal, 2022) has a key role to implement the Constitution and enforce the government's policies and programmes to achieve the SDGs. However, the sanitation goal is limited to provisions for sewage and wastewater management and does not make provisions for on-site sanitation and its management. The NWSSHP 2023 (Government of Nepal, 2023b) includes the provision of safe and accessible sanitation services to achieve the SDG target. While encouraging promotion of on-site sanitation facilities, establishing faecal sludge treatment plants, and promoting resource recovery, it lacks a clear direction on improving on-site sanitation and details of sanitation services along the sanitation service chain. The recently revised WASH SDP 2024–2043 is intended to serve as a comprehensive and strategic roadmap for achieving universal access to improved sanitation. However, it does not have a dedicated section on on-site sanitation or provide a clear approach to addressing on-site sanitation and its management.

The Government of Nepal developed guiding documents for preparing both the WASH plan and the city-wide inclusive sanitation (CWIS) plan. The WASH Plan Development Guideline (WPDG) 2076 (2019) (Government of Nepal n.d.d) lacks emphasis on sanitation. The draft CWIS Plan Guideline (CPG) 2021 (Government of Nepal n.d.a) was developed to support local governments in preparing their CWIS Plan in alignment with the WASH plan for delivery of safely managed sanitation services but lacks clarity in its process descriptions.

While the WASH policy and plans promote access to financial resources for service provision and for climate mitigation and adaptation from different national and international sources, they fail to provide clear guidance or recommendations on how to access these funds and so offer little direction for the sector. The WSSA 2022 makes no mention of climate change. The NWSSHP 2023 makes reference to climate change adaptation and a key driver is to ‘make drinking water and sanitation infrastructure disaster management friendly and climate change adaptive’. Despite this, the policy provides little direction on planning and implementing climate-resilient sanitation and makes no reference to the provisions made for sanitation in the climate change policy and plans. The WASH SDP 2024–2043 makes reference to elements required for building resilience to climate change impacts, but the focus is primarily on water supply and it does not address on-site sanitation. Neither the WPDG 2019 nor the CPG 2021 provides guidance on how to integrate climate resilience in each component of the sanitation service chain. Table 3 summarises the adequacy of the policy and plans on the provision for sanitation and its resilience to climate change.

Table 3

Level of adequacy of policies and plans on sanitation and their resilience to climate change.

Policy documentLevel of adequacy
National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) (2019) Absent 
Second Nationally Determined Contribution (2020) Limited coverage 
National Adaption Plan 2021–2050 Limited coverage 
Water Supply and Sanitation Act (WSSA) 2079 (2022) Absent 
National Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Policy (NWSSHP) 2080 (2023) Inadequate 
WASH Sector Development Plan 2024–2043 Limited coverage 
WASH Plan Development Guideline (WPDG) 2076 (2019) Limited coverage 
CWIS Plan Guideline (CPG) 2021 (draft) Inadequate 
Policy documentLevel of adequacy
National Climate Change Policy (NCCP) (2019) Absent 
Second Nationally Determined Contribution (2020) Limited coverage 
National Adaption Plan 2021–2050 Limited coverage 
Water Supply and Sanitation Act (WSSA) 2079 (2022) Absent 
National Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene Policy (NWSSHP) 2080 (2023) Inadequate 
WASH Sector Development Plan 2024–2043 Limited coverage 
WASH Plan Development Guideline (WPDG) 2076 (2019) Limited coverage 
CWIS Plan Guideline (CPG) 2021 (draft) Inadequate 

The review of policies and plans on climate change and WASH has revealed that sanitation and climate change are addressed but only to a limited extent. WASH is increasingly recognised within climate plans, and the need for adaptation and building resilience to climate is noted. However, where this is done the primary focus is water supply. Sanitation in general and on-site sanitation in particular are largely ignored in relation to climate adaptation and resilience. Where sanitation is referenced in climate policy, for example, in the NDC 2020, the reduction in GHGs is given greater priority. This reflects the growing attention being paid to sanitation and wastewater as a key emitting sector of GHGs, particularly methane (Cheng et al., 2022; Manga & Muoghalu, 2024). Addressing both adaptation and mitigation is essential for resilient sanitation and for meeting the international agreements on greenhouse gas emissions (UNCC, 2023a). Such integration is also important to comply with the 26th iteration of the Conference of Parties (COP26) decision to strengthen ‘efforts to build resilience to climate change and to curb GHG emissions’ (UNCC, 2023b). However, it is evident that the climate change policy and plans in the current form are inadequate to plan resilience in sanitation in Nepal. Similarly, review of the WASH policy and plan documents has shown that first, sanitation is inadequately addressed, attention to on-site sanitation and its management is insufficient, and second, guidance to building resilience on on-site sanitation is limited. This reflects the limited attention paid to on-site sanitation and to climate resilience in core WASH policies and plans.

The limited focus on sanitation in the policies, plans, and programmes in Nepal also reflect the limited global focus on climate resilience in the sanitation sector (Howard et al., 2016; Hyde-Smith et al., 2022). Ongoing debates about what resilient sanitation looks like, and the lack of clear methodologies for assessing it, further contribute to the inadequate attention it receives in policy frameworks (Kohlitz et al., 2017). These challenges underscore the need for more dedicated efforts and strategic planning to highlight sanitation in the global climate resilience agenda. In this context, developing a standalone plan and programme for sanitation could more effectively address the unique challenges that sanitation brings. Such a targeted plan and programme can generate comprehensive attention to improving the sanitation situation and systematically address climate-related vulnerabilities to sanitation systems and services, with a particular emphasis on on-site sanitation. Such a standalone plan for Nepal could for instance be a Sanitation National Adaptation Plan (S-NAP), taking the Health NAP (2017–2021) as an example (Government of Nepal, 2018).

Coordination with multi-sectoral stakeholders is necessary to develop climate change adaptive policies and programmes. Yet, in this review of climate change and WASH policies in Nepal it is apparent that such coordination has yet to take place. A concerted effort needs to be made for coordination with all related sectors for development of climate-resilient policies and programmes and for resource mobilisation. The importance for such coordination has been stated in both climate change and WASH policies and plans, but has yet to be implemented. The development of the standalone sanitation plan or S-NAP could be a starting point for concerted collaboration. Such coordination would need to include sectors crucial to sustained functioning of the sanitation service chain. This includes coordination with the transport and roads sector to ensure emptying services can continue to function. It would also include coordination with the agriculture sector to assess demand for treated faecal sludge when considering technologies and regulation of treatment.

The significance of considering the entire sanitation service chain in the planning and designing of sanitation interventions is well recognised at the international level (UNICEF, 2020; USAID, 2020) but has not been adequately acknowledged in the policies and plans of Nepal. In the absence of such guidance, achieving climate resilience in sanitation will be challenging. One way of addressing the existing gap in sanitation plans could be by including these aspects in the draft CPG 2021 to provide clear direction for climate-resilient sanitation planning at the sanitation systems and services level. Some key aspects that should be considered in each component of the sanitation service chain have been highlighted in Figure 2.
Fig. 2

Key issues to consider under each component of the sanitation service chain.

Fig. 2

Key issues to consider under each component of the sanitation service chain.

Close modal

The concept presented, while not exhaustive, provides a guide to consider while developing sanitation plans. This should be taken as an example to initiate resilience thinking during the planning process. Technology choice, design, and construction should consider the local geographical context and climate, potential hazard events, and associated threats including the operation and maintenance capacities. Consultation with local stakeholders including the community is one of the important approaches to understanding local context and practices, needs, and feasibility during these initial stages. Markets for products and spare parts are key factors for sustained operation and maintenance of infrastructures and equipment across the service chain. While both the climate change and WASH policies mention about treatment of faecal sludge, services to empty and transport faecal sludge should be regulated to ensure that the sludge is actually brought to the treatment plant by service providers. Furthermore, building containments that are easily accessible for emptying and treatment plants that can withstand climate impacts are important to ensure resilient services across the service chain. Assessment of market demand for treatment by-products and selecting appropriate technologies is equally important to promote sustainable and resilient sanitation.

Unlike for sanitation, substantive progress has been made in addressing the climate change in water supply systems, particularly through the integration of climate resilience in water safety plans (WHO, 2021) and through designing climate-resilient water supply projects (Government of Nepal, 2023a). However, similar advancement for climate-resilient sanitation safety plans or climate-resilient sanitation projects is absent. These actions should be initiated for planning more resilient sanitation through improved risk assessments.

Nepal will require significant investments to attain the SDG 6.2 national targets, but according to WaterAid Nepal (2018), the sanitation sector has an estimated investment gap of 76% to meet the target. The federal budget for WASH decreased by 24% in the 2023/2024 fiscal year (WaterAid Nepal, n.d.). Estimation shows that if the budget allocation is not increased, there will be a shortfall of 139 billion rupees or about USD 1 billion by 2030 (Government of Nepal, n.d.e). The potential impacts of climate change with increased investment required to build resilience of services are expected to further widen this funding gap. There are opportunities for the sanitation sector to leverage regional and international climate funds through new and additional financial flows in addition to the development assistance (Government of Nepal, 2023c, unpublished). However, this will require multi-sectoral coordination and capacity development (Government of Nepal, 2023c, unpublished). The issues identified within this analysis of the policy context for climate-resilient sanitation are not unique to Nepal but are commonly faced in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Mills et al., 2020; Hyde-Smith et al., 2022). There needs to be a concerted effort in the sanitation sector among LMICs to promote resilient sanitation as an important contributor to community resilience (IPCC, 2022).

This review does have limitations. Only policies for water, sanitation, and hygiene were reviewed. Policies and plans from other sectors such as health and education were not considered in this review and these may have included other insights and actions on sanitation and on climate resilience. This review only focused on Nepal and has not looked into detail on the experience of other countries in the region and beyond. It is acknowledged that other countries may have made greater progress in addressing climate resilience and this may offer additional insights for Nepal.

The review of policies and plans on climate change and WASH has revealed that sanitation and climate change are addressed only to a limited extent in these documents. In addition, on-site sanitation is inadequately addressed in policies and plans, even though it accounts for over 80% of sanitation coverage in Nepal. This indicates a general lack of dedicated attention and space that on-site sanitation deserves in the water and sanitation sector. There is a lack of a clear direction for planning and implementing measures for sanitation in response to climate change across the sanitation service chain. This lack of focus can lead to inadequate planning and allocation of resources for sanitation. The creation of sanitation-specific policies, plans, and programmes, with targeted attention to on-site sanitation, can better address the unique challenges that sanitation presents and can generate comprehensive attention to make progress on sanitation. Further it can systematically address climate-related vulnerabilities in sanitation systems and services. These actions will establish good practices on the ground for informed policy reforms.

The weaknesses identified in the policy context in Nepal reflect limited attention to developing resilient sanitation among LMICs more widely. Given the current limited global focus on climate resilience in sanitation and ongoing debates about what resilient sanitation should look like and how it can be assessed, investment in research is imperative to improving the understanding of impacts of climate change on sanitation and to generate evidence of resilient sanitation system and services. Greater inter-country lesson-learning should be encouraged to increase uptake of successful approaches.

Finally, increased collaboration among the key ministries is essential to initiate policy dialogue towards resilient sanitation and to recognise the wide-ranging benefits it offers across sectors such as water, health, and environment. Furthermore, the government must make efforts to drive the policy reforms and mobilise investments in collaboration with a diverse range of stakeholders such as the academia, non-profit, private sectors, and international organisations. As more countries engage in these efforts, there are opportunities for collaborative learning, sharing of best practices, and building a global community focused on climate-resilient sanitation, leading to more effective and sustainable solutions.

We acknowledge Sanjaya Adhikary, Freelance Consultant, Nepal, and Vasco Schelbert, Eawag-Sandec, Switzerland, for their review and comments on the initial draft of the paper.

No new data were created or analysed in this study. Data sharing is not applicable to this paper.

This work was supported, in whole or in part, by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation under Grant No.: INV-015713. Under the grant conditions of the Foundation, a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Generic License has already been assigned to the Author Accepted Manuscript version that might arise from this submission.

All relevant data are included in the paper or its Supplementary Information.

The authors declare there is no conflict.

Ahmad
T.
,
Shrestha
A. M.
,
Das
S. K.
,
Darnal
K.
,
Neupane
R.
,
Pote
R.
,
Dangol
B.
,
Shakya
R.
&
Paudel
D.
(
2018
).
Impact of climate change on WASH services: A case from Nepal
,
41st WEDC International Conference
.
2018
.
Nakuru, Kenya
:
Egerton University
.
Birchall
S. J.
&
Bonnett
N.
(
2021
)
Climate change adaptation policy and practice: The role of agents, institutions and systems
,
Cities
,
108
, 103001. doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2020.103001.
Cheng
S.
,
Long
J.
,
Evans
B.
,
Zhan
Z.
,
Li
T.
,
Chen
C.
,
Mang
H. -P.
&
Li
Z.
(
2022
)
Non-negligible greenhouse gas emissions from non-sewered sanitation systems: A meta-analysis
,
Environmental Research
,
212
(
Part D
),
113468
.
doi:10.1016/j.envres.2022.113468
.
Clare
A.
,
Graber
R.
,
Jones
L.
&
Conway
D.
(
2017
)
Subjective measures of climate resilience: What is the added value for policy and programming?
,
Global Environmental Change
,
46
,
17
22
.
DFID
(
2011
)
Defining Disaster Resilience: A DFID Appraoch Paper
.
London, UK
:
Department of International Development
. .
Eckstein
D.
,
Künzel
V.
&
Schäfer
L.
(
2021
)
Briefing Paper Global Climate Risk Index 2021 Who Suffers Most from Extreme Weather Events? Weather-Related Loss Events in 2019 and 2000-2019. Germanwatch e.V
.
Fleming
L.
,
Anthonj
C.
,
Thakkar
M. B.
,
Tikoisuva
W. M.
,
Manga
M.
,
Howard
G.
,
Shields
K. F.
,
Kelly
E.
,
Overmars
M.
&
Bartram
J.
(
2019
)
Urban and rural sanitation in the Solomon Islands: How resilient are these to extreme weather events?
,
Science of the Total Environment
,
683
,
331
340
.
Government of India
(
2022
)
India's Updated First Nationally Determined Contribution Under Paris Agreement (2021–2030)
.
Government of India
(
n.d.
)
National Action Plan on Climate Change. Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change. Available at: http://www.nicra-icar.in/nicrarevised/images/Mission%20Documents/National-Action-Plan-on-Climate-Change.pdf (Accessed: 20 August 2024)
.
Government of Nepal
(
2018
)
Health National Adaptation Plan (H-NAP) Climate Change Health Adaptation Strategies and Action Plans of Nepal 2017–2021 (Unofficial Translation)
.
Ramshahpath, Kathmandu
:
Government of Nepal, Ministry of Health and Population
. .
Government of Nepal
(
2019
)
National Climate Change Policy, 2076 (2019)
.
Babarmahal, Kathmandu
:
Government of Nepal, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs
. .
Government of Nepal
(
2020
)
Second Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)
.
Kathmandu, Nepal
:
Government of Nepal
. .
Government of Nepal
(
2022
)
Water Supply and Sanitation Act 2079 (2022)
.
Available at: https://api.giwms.gov.np/storage/7/posts/1680067648_57.pdf (Accessed: 30 September 2023)
Government of Nepal
(
2023a
)
Climate Resilient Large Water Supply Project
.
Government of Nepal
(
2023b
)
National Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Policy 2080 (AD 2023) (In Nepali)
.
Singha Durbar, Kathmandu
:
Government of Nepal, Ministry of Water Supply
.
Available at: https://mows.gov.np/category/839/ (Accessed 30 September 2023)
.
Government of Nepal
(
2023c
)
National Workshop Report on WASH Bottleneck Analysis for Climate Resilient WASH Services in Nepal June 2023 (Unpublished)
Government of Nepal
(
n.d.a
)
Citywide Inclusive Sanitation (CWIS) Plan Guideline 2021 (Unpublished)
.
Government of Nepal, Ministry of Water Supply
.
Government of Nepal
(
n.d.b
)
National Adaptation Plan (NAP) 2021–2050
.
Available at: https://mofe.gov.np/resources/plans-8829 (Accessed: 24 August 2023)
Government of Nepal
(
n.d.c
)
Nepal Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene Sector Development Plan (2016–2030) (Draft)
.
Government of Nepal, Ministry of Water Supply and Sanitation, Sector Efficiency Inprovement Unit (SEIU)
.
Government of Nepal
(
n.d.d
)
WASH Plan Development Guideline 2076 (AD 2019) (In Nepali)
.
Singhadurbar, Kathmandu: Government of Nepal, Ministry of Water Supply, Department of Water Supply and Sewerage Management
.
Government of Nepal
(
n.d.e
)
Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH): Sector Development Plan 2024–2043
.
Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
(
2022
)
National Adaptation Plan of Bangladesh (2023–2050)
.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
. .
Howard
G.
,
Katrina
C.
,
Pond
K.
,
Brookshaw
A.
,
Hossain
H.
&
Bartram
J.
(
2010
)
Securing 2020 vision for 2030: Climate change and ensuring resilience in water and sanitation services
,
Journal of Water and Climate Change
,
1
,
2
16
.
Howard
G.
,
Calow
R.
,
Macdonald
A.
&
Bartram
J.
(
2016
)
Climate change and water and sanitation: Likely impacts and emerging trends for action
,
Annual Review of Environment and Resources
,
41
,
253
276
.
Hyde-Smith
L.
,
Zhan
Z.
,
Roelich
K.
,
Mdee
A.
&
Evans
B.
(
2022
)
Climate change impacts on urban sanitation: A systematic review and failure mode analysis
,
Environmental Science & Technology
,
56
,
5306
5321
.
IPCC
(
2022
)
Climate change 2022: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability
. In:
Pörtner
H.-O.
,
Roberts
D. C.
,
Tignor
M.
,
Poloczanska
E. S.
,
Mintenbeck
K.
,
Alegría
A.
,
Craig
M.
,
Langsdorf
S.
,
Löschke
S.
,
Möller
V.
,
Okem
A.
&
Rama
B.
(eds.)
Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
,
Cambridge, UK
:
Cambridge University Press
and New York, NY, USA
, p.
3056
.
doi:10.1017/9781009325844
.
Karki
M.
,
Mool
P.
&
Shrestha
A.
(
2009
)
Climate Change and its Increasing Impacts in Nepal. The Initiative 2009
.
Keshavarz
M.
&
Moqadas
R. S.
(
2021
)
Assessing rural households’ resilience and adaptation strategies to climate variability and change
,
Journal of Arid Environments
,
184
, 104323. doi: 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2020.104323.
Kohlitz
J. P.
,
Chong
J.
&
Willetts
J.
(
2017
)
Climate change vulnerability and resilience of water, sanitation, and hygiene services: A theoretical perspective
,
Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development
,
7
,
181
195
.
Luh
J.
,
Royster
S.
,
Sebastian
D.
,
Ojomo
E.
&
Bartram
J.
(
2017
)
Expert assessment of the resilience of drinking water and sanitation systems to climate-related hazards
,
Science of the Total Environment
,
592
,
334
344
.
Mills
F.
,
Willetts
J.
,
Evans
B.
,
Carrard
N.
&
Kohlitz
J.
(
2020
)
Costs, climate and contamination: Three drivers for citywide sanitation investment decisions
,
Frontiers in Environmental Science
,
8
,
130
.
doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2020.00130
.
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
(
2021
)
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) 2021 Bangladesh (Updated)
Ministry of Forest and Environment
. (
2019
)
Climate Change Scenarios for Nepal for National Adaptation Plan (NAP)
.
Kathmandu, Nepal
:
Ministry of Forest and Environment
.
OECD
(
2018
)
Climate-resilient Infastructure Policy Perspectives OECD Environment Policy Paper No. 14. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/environment/cc/policy-perspectives-climate-resilient-infrastructure.pdf (Accessed: 18 October 2023)
.
Page, M. J., Moher, D., Bossuyt, P. M., Boutron, I., Hoffmann, T. C., Mulrow, C. D., Shamseer, L., Tetzlaff, J. M., Akl, E. A., Brennan, S. E., Chou, R., Glanville, J., Grimshaw, J. M., Hrobjartsson, A., Lalu, M. M., Li, T., Loder, W. W., Mayo-Wilson, E., McDonald, S., McGuinness, L. A., Stewart, L. A., Thomas, J., Tricco, A. C., Welch, V. A., Whiting, P. & McKenzie, J. E.
(
2021
)
PRISMA 2020 explanation and elaboration: updated guidance and exemplars for reporting systematic reviews
,
BMJ
,
372
,
n160. doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n160.
Ranabhat
S.
,
Ghate
R.
,
Bhatta
L. D.
,
Agrawal
N. K.
&
Tankha
S.
(
2018
)
Policy coherence and interplay between climate change adaptation policies and the forestry sector in Nepal
,
Environmental Management
,
61
,
968
980
.
Sherpa
A. M.
,
Koottatep
T.
,
Zurbrügg
C.
&
Cissé
G.
(
2014
)
Vulnerability and adaptability of sanitation systems to climate change
,
Journal of Water and Climate Change
,
5
,
487
495
.
The Rockefeller Foundation & Arup
(
n.d.
)
City Resilience Index Understanding and Measuring City Resilience
.
UN
(
2023
)
Sustainable Development Goals
.
Available at: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/ (Accessed: 18 September 2023)
UNCC
(
2023a
)
The Paris Agreement
.
Available at: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement (Accessed: 16 September 2023)
UNCC
(
2023b
)
The Glasgow Climate Pact – Key Outcomes From COP26
.
Unicef
(
2020
)
WASH Discussion Paper What do Safely Managed Sanitation Services Mean for UNICEF Programmes?
USAID
(
2020
)
Technical Brief 5 Urban Sanitation Services
.
USAID
(
2022
)
Resilience Policy Revision, Draft as of December 2022
.
Vij
S.
,
Biesbroek
R.
,
Groot
A.
&
Termeer
K.
(
2018
)
Changing climate policy paradigms in Bangladesh and Nepal
,
Environmental Science & Policy
,
81
,
77
85
.
WaterAid
(
2016
)
Nepal Joint Sector Review: Summary Report July 2016. Available at: https://washmatters.wateraid.org/sites/g/files/jkxoof256/files/nepal-joint-sector-review-summary.pdf (Accessed: 26 October 2023)
.
WaterAid Nepal
(
2018
)
WASH Financing in Nepal 2018/19 Context SDG 6
.
Lalitpur, Nepal
:
WaterAid Nepal
. .
WaterAid Nepal
(
n.d.
)
WASH Financing in Nepal 2023/24, Context: Six Years to SDGs 2030
.
WHO
(
2021
)
Addressing Climate Risks in Supplying Safe Water
.
WHO
(
2022a
)
Delivering Safe Sanitation for all Areas for Action to Improve the Situation in the pan-European Region
.
Copenhagen
:
WHO Regional Office for Europe; 2022. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO
. .
WHO
(
2022b
)
Sanitation Safety Planning: Step-by-Step Risk Management for Safely Managed Sanitation Systems
.
Geneva
:
World Health Organization
. .
WHO & UNICEF
(
n.d.
)
WASHDATA. Available at: https://washdata.org/data/household#!/ (Accessed: 3 September 2024)
.
Willetts
J.
,
Priadi
C.
,
Ombasta
O.
,
Wulandari
D.
,
Imtiyaz
I.
,
Sudhiastiningsih
N. N. S. N.
,
Kohlitz
J.
,
Mills
F.
&
Listyasari
M.
(
2022
)
Co-developing evidence-informed adaptation actions for resilient citywide sanitation: local government response to climate change in Indonesia
,
Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science
,
49
(
8
),
2129
2150
.
doi: 10.1177/23998083221098740
.
World Health Organisation
(
2015
)
Operational Framework for Building Climate Resilient Health Systems
.
Geneva, Switzerland
:
World Health Organisation
. .
World Health Organization
(
2019
)
Sanitation Policy and Planning Framework Case Studies for Discussion
.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Supplementary data