This session was riveting for anyone waist-deep in environmental impact assessment (EIA) research – e.g., me. The multi-national panelists discussed the problems encountered in EIA in their respective countries. Marketa Visinkova, a lawyer practicing in the Czech Republic, noted that during the initial screening process, nearly all projects are determined not to require any EIA. The reasons given for these decisions are sparse. Visinkova also explained the phenomenon of ‘salami slicing’: assessing mega projects as several smaller projects. She gave the example of a highway assessed and built as several small stretches of road so that cumulative impacts were never studied. When it came time to assess the highway passing through a highly sensitive area where impacts would be large, the road had already been built behind and ahead of the area – this was the last stretch of highway to be built and by that time the project could not be stopped.
Interestingly, a similar thing happens to projects in Canada, although none of the panelists were from Canada or had studied Canadian EIA.
One common theme among the panelists was the importance of public participation in EIA. Unfortunately, in many countries, the knowledge of local and indigenous peoples is undervalued or ignored. I suppose we should be thankful that at least, in Canada, people are not forced off their land at gunpoint.
*****
Unrelated note: there is no internet access in the rooms - only at school and in the hotel lobby - so updates may not be as frequent as we would like.
Also, everyone is accounted for as of this afternoon!
No comments:
Post a Comment