Nitrogen-relevant policies from South Asia collected by the South Asian Nitrogen Hub (SANH) 2020-2021
Cite this dataset as:
Yang, A.L.; Adhya, T.K.; Anik, A.R.; Bansal, S.; Das, S.; Hassan, R.; Jayaweera, A.; Jeffery, R.; Joshi, R.; Kanter, D.; Kaushik, H.; Nissanka, S.P.; Panda, A.N.; Pokharel, A.; Porter, S.D.; Raghuram, N.; Sharna, S.C.; Shazly, A.; Shifa, S.; Watto, M.A. (2021). Nitrogen-relevant policies from South Asia collected by the South Asian Nitrogen Hub (SANH) 2020-2021 . NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/e2f248d5-79a1-4af9-bdd4-f739fb12ce9a
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PLEASE NOTE:
By accessing or using this dataset, you agree to the terms of the relevant licence agreement(s). You will ensure that this dataset is cited in any publication that describes research in which the data have been used.
The parties responsible for collection and interpretation of data include the University of Edinburgh, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Sustainable India Trust, The Maldives National University, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University, TERI School of Advanced Studies, New York University, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, University of Peradeniya, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, and Kathmandu University.
This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence 
https://doi.org/10.5285/e2f248d5-79a1-4af9-bdd4-f739fb12ce9a
The database includes the classification of 966 active nitrogen-relevant policies from South Asia (including Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka). The collection during 2020 and 2021 focuses on national level policies; some subnational policies were also collected.
Data collection involved building on an existing open access global database developed by Kanter et al., 2020 that contained 51 policies for South Asia established to 2017 sourced by the environmental law ECOLEX database. Further policies were collected mostly from online sources: such as international policy databases: FAOLEX and national government and ministry websites. A protocol for policy collection and classification was established and followed to ensure consistent and thorough collections across the eight countries. Policies were classified according to a variety of parameters including the sink (air, water etc.) and sector (agriculture, industry etc.) they address and by type of policy. Policies were clustered if they had a central node policy in place and if a ‘subordinate policy’ (including amendments) did not offer anything new in terms of content related to Nitrogen management.
This data was collected as part of a collective partnership that brings together leading organisations from across South Asia and the UK to reduce the adverse global impacts of nitrogen pollution on the environment, health, and wellbeing. More specifically providing a resource for both SANH partners and the wider scientific and policy community to understand the nitrogen policy landscape in the south Asian region. Furthermore, this research contributes to efforts in building a nitrogen policy arena promoting sustainable management of nitrogen, mitigating adverse effects.
The dataset provides a thorough overview of available nitrogen related policies in South Asia but does not provide a complete set of all the nitrogen relevant policies available in each country. In some cases, this was due to our dependency on policy availability online, and some websites were not maintained. In addition, we excluded policies established post 2020 to avoid policy responses to COVID19 and to align more closely with the original global study. Repealed policies were omitted from the database.
Data collection involved building on an existing open access global database developed by Kanter et al., 2020 that contained 51 policies for South Asia established to 2017 sourced by the environmental law ECOLEX database. Further policies were collected mostly from online sources: such as international policy databases: FAOLEX and national government and ministry websites. A protocol for policy collection and classification was established and followed to ensure consistent and thorough collections across the eight countries. Policies were classified according to a variety of parameters including the sink (air, water etc.) and sector (agriculture, industry etc.) they address and by type of policy. Policies were clustered if they had a central node policy in place and if a ‘subordinate policy’ (including amendments) did not offer anything new in terms of content related to Nitrogen management.
This data was collected as part of a collective partnership that brings together leading organisations from across South Asia and the UK to reduce the adverse global impacts of nitrogen pollution on the environment, health, and wellbeing. More specifically providing a resource for both SANH partners and the wider scientific and policy community to understand the nitrogen policy landscape in the south Asian region. Furthermore, this research contributes to efforts in building a nitrogen policy arena promoting sustainable management of nitrogen, mitigating adverse effects.
The dataset provides a thorough overview of available nitrogen related policies in South Asia but does not provide a complete set of all the nitrogen relevant policies available in each country. In some cases, this was due to our dependency on policy availability online, and some websites were not maintained. In addition, we excluded policies established post 2020 to avoid policy responses to COVID19 and to align more closely with the original global study. Repealed policies were omitted from the database.
Publication date: 2021-11-09
View numbers valid from 01 June 2023 Download numbers valid from 20 June 2024 (information prior to this was not collected)
Format
Comma-separated values (CSV)
Spatial information
Study area
Spatial representation type
Tabular (text)
Spatial reference system
WGS 84
Temporal information
Temporal extent
… to 2020-12-31
Provenance & quality
The data generated built on an existing open access global nitrogen policy database developed by Kanter et al. (2020) that contains 51 policies for South Asia established up until 2017 sourced by the environmental law ECOLEX database.
The next step for data collection included the establishment of an adjusted policy collection protocol providing guidance on nitrogen relevant policies established up until December 2019, identifying potential policy sources. A further 915 policies were collected from mostly online sources: such as the international policy database FAOLEX, national government and ministry websites, and the ECOLEX database. The descriptive policy information compiled into the database included: policy title, related URL, data of establishment, policy end date (if applicable), country name, policy coverage (national or sub-national), language and ministry responsible. The identification of policy text type (i.e. legislation, policy, regulation miscellaneous) and source type (1 = ECOLEX/FAOLEX, 2 = other) involved a context-based classification. Please note all policies from ECOLEX were originally sourced by FAOLEX.
According to the protocols specified criteria policies were checked and filtered. A coordinator conducted further internal checks to ensure consistency and identify any search gaps (e.g. missing sectors) before moving onto the next steps.
The next step was to conduct a content-based classification of the policies according to the policies objectives and proposals. Following a similar approach designed by Kanter et al. (2020) policies are classified according to policy type, sector focus, and environmental objectives. Additional classifications are applied, including: impact direction, pollution target source, relevance and impact scope. Internal and external checks were provided to ensure that policies were classified consistently.
Data limitations are acknowledged for both the collection and classification processes. The collection of nitrogen relevant policies are recognised to not be 100% complete due to the dependency on online availability of policy texts and gaps in existing databases. The classifications could also be subjective. Random internal and external checks, along the different data processing steps, aimed to mitigate this risk. The relevance and impact of certain policies could vary according to country context therefore there was inevitability some variability in analysts judgements between countries.
The next step for data collection included the establishment of an adjusted policy collection protocol providing guidance on nitrogen relevant policies established up until December 2019, identifying potential policy sources. A further 915 policies were collected from mostly online sources: such as the international policy database FAOLEX, national government and ministry websites, and the ECOLEX database. The descriptive policy information compiled into the database included: policy title, related URL, data of establishment, policy end date (if applicable), country name, policy coverage (national or sub-national), language and ministry responsible. The identification of policy text type (i.e. legislation, policy, regulation miscellaneous) and source type (1 = ECOLEX/FAOLEX, 2 = other) involved a context-based classification. Please note all policies from ECOLEX were originally sourced by FAOLEX.
According to the protocols specified criteria policies were checked and filtered. A coordinator conducted further internal checks to ensure consistency and identify any search gaps (e.g. missing sectors) before moving onto the next steps.
The next step was to conduct a content-based classification of the policies according to the policies objectives and proposals. Following a similar approach designed by Kanter et al. (2020) policies are classified according to policy type, sector focus, and environmental objectives. Additional classifications are applied, including: impact direction, pollution target source, relevance and impact scope. Internal and external checks were provided to ensure that policies were classified consistently.
Data limitations are acknowledged for both the collection and classification processes. The collection of nitrogen relevant policies are recognised to not be 100% complete due to the dependency on online availability of policy texts and gaps in existing databases. The classifications could also be subjective. Random internal and external checks, along the different data processing steps, aimed to mitigate this risk. The relevance and impact of certain policies could vary according to country context therefore there was inevitability some variability in analysts judgements between countries.
Licensing and constraints
This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence
Cite this dataset as:
Yang, A.L.; Adhya, T.K.; Anik, A.R.; Bansal, S.; Das, S.; Hassan, R.; Jayaweera, A.; Jeffery, R.; Joshi, R.; Kanter, D.; Kaushik, H.; Nissanka, S.P.; Panda, A.N.; Pokharel, A.; Porter, S.D.; Raghuram, N.; Sharna, S.C.; Shazly, A.; Shifa, S.; Watto, M.A. (2021). Nitrogen-relevant policies from South Asia collected by the South Asian Nitrogen Hub (SANH) 2020-2021 . NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/e2f248d5-79a1-4af9-bdd4-f739fb12ce9a
The parties responsible for collection and interpretation of data include the University of Edinburgh, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Sustainable India Trust, The Maldives National University, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University, TERI School of Advanced Studies, New York University, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, University of Peradeniya, University of Agriculture Faisalabad, and Kathmandu University.
Citations
Kanter, D.R., Chodos, O., Nordland, O., Rutigliano, M. and Winiwarter, W., 2020. Gaps and opportunities in nitrogen pollution policies around the world. Nature Sustainability, 3(11), pp.956-963 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0577-7
Yang, A.L., Raghuram, N., Adhya, T.K., Porter, S.D., Panda, A.N., Kaushik, H., Jayaweera, A., Nissanka, S.P., Anik, A.R., Shifa, S., Sharna, S.C., Joshi, R., Arif Watto, M., Pokharel, A., Shazly, A., Hassan, R., Bansal, S., Kanter, D., Das, S., & Jeffery, R. (2022). Policies to combat nitrogen pollution in South Asia: gaps and opportunities. Environmental Research Letters, 17(2), 025007 https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac48b2
Supplemental information
ECOLEX is operated jointly by FAO, IUCN and UNEP. All policies sourced from ECOLEX were originally sourced by FAOLEX.
FAOLEX is operated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). © FAO. FAOLEX Database. Complete collection. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Correspondence/contact details
Authors
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8947-2383
Adhya, T.K.
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University
Anik, A.R.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University
Hassan, R.
The Maldives National University
Jayaweera, A.
University of Peradeniya
Joshi, R.
Kathmandu University
Kaushik, H.
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University
Nissanka, S.P.
University of Peradeniya
Panda, A.N.
Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT) University
Pokharel, A.
Youth Alliance for Environment (YAE)
Sharna, S.C.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University
Shazly, A.
The Maldives National University
Shifa, S.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University
Other contacts
Rights holder
University of Edinburgh
Custodian
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
info@eidc.ac.uk
Publisher
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
info@eidc.ac.uk
Additional metadata
Keywords
Funding
Natural Environment Research Council Award: NE/S009019/2
Last updated
21 March 2025 09:20