Increasing emphasis has been placed in recent years on transitioning strategic environmental assessment (SEA) away from its environmental impact assessment (EIA) roots. Scholars have argued the need ...to conceptualize SEA as a process designed to facilitate strategic thinking, thus enabling transitions toward sustainability. The practice of SEA, however, remains deeply rooted in the EIA tradition and scholars and practitioners often appear divided on the nature and purpose of SEA. This paper revisits the strategic principles of SEA and conceptualizes SEA as a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional assessment process. It is suggested that SEA can be conceptualized as series of approaches operating along a spectrum from less to more strategic – from impact assessment-based to strategy-based – with each approach to SEA differentiated by the specific objectives of SEA application and the extent to which strategic principles are reflected in its design and implementation. Advancing the effectiveness of SEA requires a continued research agenda focused on improving the traditional SEA approach, as a tool to assess the impacts of policies, plans and programs (PPPs). Realizing the full potential of SEA, however, requires a new research agenda — one focused on the development and testing of a deliberative governance approach to SEA that can facilitate strategic innovations in PPP formulation and drive transitions in short-term policy and initiatives based on longer-term thinking.
•SEA facilitates strategic thinking, enabling transitions toward sustainability.•SEA is conceptualized as a spectrum of approaches, from IA-based to strategy-based.•Each approach variably emphasizes strategic principles in its design and practice.•There is no one conceptualization of SEA that is best, SEA is fit for PPP purpose.•Research is needed to advance SEA to facilitate strategic PPP transformations.
In environmental impact assessment, qualitative methods are used because they are versatile and easy to apply. This methodology is based on the evaluation of the strength of the impact by grading a ...series of qualitative attributes that can be manipulated by the evaluator. The results thus obtained are not objective, and all too often impacts are eliminated that should be mitigated with corrective measures. However, qualitative methodology can be improved if the calculation of Impact Importance is based on the characteristics of environmental factors and project activities instead on indicators assessed by evaluators. In this sense, this paper proposes the inclusion of the vulnerability of environmental factors and the potential environmental impact of project activities. For this purpose, the study described in this paper defined Total Impact Importance and specified a quantification procedure. The results obtained in the case study of oil drilling in Colombia reflect greater objectivity in the evaluation of impacts as well as a positive correlation between impact values, the environmental characteristics at and near the project location, and the technical characteristics of project activities.
•Concept of vulnerability has been used to calculate the importance impact assessment.•This paper defined Total Impact Importance and specified a quantification procedure.•The method includes the characteristics of environmental and project activities.•The application has shown greater objectivity in the evaluation of impacts.•Better correlation between impact values, environment and the project has been shown.
Increasing interest in sustainability has led to the development of sustainability assessment tools such as Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC) and Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA). Due to ...methodological disparity of these three tools, conflicting assessment results generate confusion for many policy and business decisions. In order to interpret and integrate assessment results, the paper provides a framework that clarifies the connections and coherence between the included assessment methodologies. Building on this framework, the paper further focuses on key aspects to adapt any of the methodologies to full sustainability assessments. Aspects dealt with in the review are for example the reported metrics, the scope, data requirements, discounting, product- or project-related and approaches with respect to scarcity and labor requirements. In addition to these key aspects, the review shows that important connections exist: (i) the three tools can cope with social inequality, (ii) processes such as valuation techniques for LCC and CBA are common, (iii) Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is used as input in both LCA and CBA and (iv) LCA can be used in parallel with LCC. Furthermore, the most integrated sustainability approach combines elements of LCA and LCC to achieve the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). The key aspects and the connections referred to in the review are illustrated with a case study on the treatment of end-of-life automotive glass.
•Proliferation of assessment tools creates ambiguity and confusion.•The developed assessment framework clarifies connections between assessment tools.•Broadening LCA, key aspects are metric and data requirements.•Broadening LCC, key aspects are scope, time frame and discounting.•Broadening CBA, focus point, timespan, references, labor and scarcity are key.
Indigenous peoples have gained considerable agency in shaping decisions regarding resource development on their traditional lands. This growing agency is reflected in the emergence of the right to ...free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) when Indigenous rights may be adversely affected by major resource development projects. While many governments remain non-committal toward FPIC, corporate actors are more proactive at engaging with Indigenous peoples in seeking their consent to resource extraction projects through negotiated Impact and Benefit Agreements. Focusing on the Canadian context, this article discusses the roots and implications of a proponent-driven model for seeking Indigenous consent to natural resource extraction on their traditional lands. Building on two case studies, the paper argues that negotiated consent through IBAs offers a truncated version of FPIC from the perspective of the communities involved. The deliberative ethic at the core of FPIC is often undermined in the negotiation process associated with proponent-led IBAs.
•FPIC is becoming a norm for resource extraction projects on Indigenous lands.•Proponent-led IBAs have become the main instrument to establish FPIC in Canada.•Case studies show elite-driven IBA negotiations do not always create the conditions for FPIC.•We need to pay attention to community deliberations as an inherent aspect of FPIC.
In recent years, China's government authorities have devoted increasing attention to the role of public participation processes in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The capacity of these ...processes to influence decision-making remains widely debated. This paper aims at appraising the institutional rationale informing the implementation of public participation in China's EIA, benchmarking it against three conceptualisations: (1) Normative, based on objectives of empowerment and democratisation; (2) Substantive, where participation is pursued mainly to improve quality of decisions; (3) Instrumental, seeking participation as an instrument to legitimise decision-making processes. The appraisal is carried out by means of a new integrated index (Public Participation Index, PPI), which is applied to a case study representative of latest advancements in EIA public participation practices in China, namely the “New Beijing Airport Project”. Located 46km south of downtown Beijing, the project was approved in 2014 and it is currently under construction. Results of the PPI application to this case study indicate that, despite progress made in recent years, the implementation of public participation in Chinese EIA still largely responds to an instrumental rationale, with limited capacity for the public to affect decisions.
•In recent years China has strengthened EIA public participation (PP) legislation.•Despite progress, implementation of PP remains informed by an instrumental rationale.•A large gap exists between principles enunciated in regulations and implementation.•The Public Participation Index can be used to monitor China's EIA PP development.
The market for new durable products of modified wood has increased substantially during the last few years, especially in Europe. This increased interest depends partly on the restricted use of toxic ...preservatives due to increased environmental concern, as well as the need for reduced maintenance for wood products that are mainly for exterior use. Furthermore, as sustainability becomes a greater concern, the environmental impact of construction and interior materials should be included in planning by considering the entire life cycle and embodied energy of the materials used. As a result, wood modification has been implemented to improve the intrinsic properties of wood, widen the range of sawn timber applications, and acquire the form and functionality desired by engineers, without bringing environmental friendliness into question. The different wood modification processes are at various stages of development, and the challenges that must be overcome to expand to industrial applications differ amongst them. In this paper, three groups of wood modification processes are discussed and exemplified with modified wood products that have been newly introduced to the market: (i) chemical processing (acetylation, furfurylation, resin impregnation etc.); (ii) thermo-hydro processing (thermal treatment); and (iii) thermo-hydro-mechanical processing (surface densification). Building on these examples, the paper will discuss the environmental impact assessment of modification processes and further development needs.
While the development of maritime economic activity is increasingly encouraged, the consideration of its impacts constitutes a real challenge. The limitations of the implementation of the mitigation ...hierarchy have been widely discussed in scientific literature, yet data on marine biodiversity offset practices remains scarce. In this study, we investigated the use of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) as suitable instruments to achieve the No Net Loss objective. Drawing on a French approach developed for the initial assessment of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive, we examined the pressures and impacts related to various marine development projects and the effectiveness of the mitigation hierarchy in limiting these. An analysis of 55 recent French environmental impact studies showed that only 7% of the proposed measures had the aim of offsetting predicted degradation of sites of remarkable biodiversity. This can be partly explained by the lack of a clear definition of ‘significant impact’, which varies greatly depending on what is impacted, in turn allowing socio-economic activities to benefit more easily from offset. Furthermore, offsetting does not always constitute the final step of the mitigation hierarchy, highlighting the need to reinforce avoidance and reduction steps. Although we acknowledge the role of EIA in mitigating the negative impacts of development projects, synergies with other European marine environmental policies such as the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and the Maritime Spatial Planning directive (MSP) should be developed in order to improve current practices.
•Avoidance measures were not well represented in the Environmental Impact Assessments studied.•Few significant residual impacts and measures to offset these were described.•Common biodiversity did not benefit from offset measures.•The equivalency of proposed marine offsets is questionable.
The use of supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) to replace part of the clinker in cement is the most successful strategy to reduce CO2 emissions in the global cement industry. However, limited ...supplies of conventional SCMs make it difficult to take this strategy further unless new types of SCMs become available. The only type of material available in the quantities needed to meet demand is clay containing kaolinite, which can be calcined to produce an effective SCM. Such clays are widely available in countries where most growth in demand for cement is forecast.
Calcined clays have previously been used as pozzolans, but calcination makes the economics of substitution marginal in a conventional pozzolanic blend. The major innovation presented here is the possibility to make a coupled substitution of cement with calcined clay and limestone. This allows much higher levels of substitution. Blends where calcined clay is used as a pozzolan, typically have clinker contents around 65–70%. Combination of calcined clay with limestone allows higher levels of substitution down to clinker contents of around 50% with similar mechanical properties and improvement in some aspects of durability. The replacement of clinker with limestone in these blends lowers both the cost and the environmental impact.
The evaluation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) systems is a highly recommended strategy for enhancing their effectiveness and quality. This paper describes an evaluation of EIA in Colombia, ...using the model and the control mechanisms proposed and applied in other countries by Christopher Wood and Ortolano. The evaluation criteria used are based on Principles of Environmental Impact Assessment Best Practice, such as effectiveness and control features, and they were contrasted with the opinions of a panel of Colombian EIA experts as a means of validating the results of the study. The results found that EIA regulations in Colombia were ineffective because of limited scope, inadequate administrative support and the inexistence of effective control mechanisms and public participation. This analysis resulted in a series of recommendations regarding the further development of the EIA system in Colombia with a view to improving its quality and effectiveness.
In this article we take a closer look at resistance to the practice of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in mining and energy projects in Guatemala. Collectivities resisting mining and hydropower ...projects in Guatemala are increasingly using the evaluations of EIAs conducted by international independent professionals. Reaching out to international experts is facilitated by local communities' engagements in transnational networks bringing together activists, NGOs, scientists, journalists and others. We argue that resistance movements resort to international professionals to challenge the limits imposed on them by the national legislation and institutional arrangements as well as by the way in which EIAs are performed in the country. Further, the engagements in networks that facilitate access to knowledge contribute to strengthen the legitimacy of communities' claims. Challenges to and complaints about EIAs are ways in which affected communities try to reclaim their right to participate in decision-making related to their local environment and the development of their communities. Both complaints about EIAs and the use of transnational networks to attain better participation in decision making processes at local levels, illustrated in this study for Guatemala, are common responses to the advancement of extractive industries and hydropower development across Latin America. The widespread of initiatives to challenge EIAs involving international experts in the region show that EIAs have become a sort of a transnational battleground.
•Communities’ opposition to extractive projects is rooted in lack of participation in decision-making, including EIAs•Experts’ evaluations of approved EIAs confirm communities’ claims of poor practices in the public sector•Research presented here shows that local communities linked to transnational networks are able to scale up their demands.
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