The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Environment Union (IUCN) Nepal signed a memorandum of understanding to launch a long-term project to sensitise the issues of the environment in the constitution to be formed through the election of the constituent assembly.

Regional Director of UNEP, Surendra Shrestha and Country Representatives of IUCN Nepal, Prabhu Budathoki signed the document ‘for mainstreaming environment rights and sustainable development into the new constitution of Nepal’ in the capital on Wednesday.

“Democracy is linked to sustainable economy, which is further linked to the sustainability of environmental goods and services. These are the three building blocks of sustainable development,” Budathoki said.

Speaking at the same programme, Shrestha said that challenges for sustainable development and sustained economic growth are in the forefront of the political leadership.

Within this partnership, three major projects are being initiated. The IUCN is leading the project on ‘Mainstreaming Environmental Rights and Sustainable Development into the new constitution of Nepal’, WWF Nepal will lead the ‘Post Conflict Assessment” project and the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) will lead the project on ‘Bagmati River Conservation’, reports said.