Environment Impact Assessment

Name: Sultana Mahmud ID: 072 181 028 ENV-373.1

Assignment#1

EIA is essential planning to make initiative sustainabledevelopment

Sustainable Development: As defined by the United Nations world commission on environment and development, sustainable development must meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs and aspirations. It is a process in which the exploitation of resources, the directions of investment, and institutional changes are all made consistent with future as well as present needs. Environmental Impact Assessment: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) could form a major instrument in decision making and for measurement of sustainability in the context of regional carrying capacity, provided the conceptual framework is extended to the cumulative assessment of developmental policies, plans and projects on a regional basis. EIA is potentially one of the must valuable, inter disciplinary objective decision-making tools with respect to alternate routes for development process technologies and project sites. It is an ideal anticipatory mechanism, which establishes quantitative values for parameters indicating the quality of the environment before, during and after the proposed development activity, thus allowing measures that ensure environmental compatibility. It presents a clear and concise picture of all benefits and costs associated with alternative courses of action and provide a mechanism for merging the concerns for environment and economics in the process of decision-making. The need for EIA in sustainable development: Economic, social and environmental change is inherent to development. Whilst development aims to bring about positive change it can lead to conflicts. In the past, the promotion of economic growth as the motor for increased well-being was the main development thrust with little sensitivity to adverse social or environmental impacts. The need to avoid adverse impacts and to ensure long term benefits led to the concept of sustainability. This has become accepted as an essential feature of development if the aim of increased well-being and greater equity in fulfilling basic needs is to be met for this and future generations. In order to predict environmental impacts of any development activity and to provide an opportunity to mitigate against negative impacts and enhance positive impacts, the environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedure was developed in the 1970s. An EIA may be defined as: a formal process to predict the environmental consequences of human development activities and to plan appropriate measures to eliminate or reduce adverse effects and to augment positive effects. Conclusion: EIA is internationally recognized as a key tool to guide us on a path to sustainable development. Most countries in the southern African region have progressed significantly over the past decade in the introduction of formal systems for the implementation of EIA. The stage is, therefore, set for EIA to play a more important role. It is key that in its application, practitioners, developers and decision-makers ensure that the

important social and economic issues facing the region are addressed alongside the traditional biophysical issues. It is also important that the use of higher level or strategic forms of EIA (e.g. SEA) and sustainable development strategies is encouraged. These tools provide a logical framework into which local, project-based issues typically addressed by EIAs can find context. Reference: CSIR. 2001. An introduction to sustainability assessment and management. IAIA (International Association for Impact Assessment). 2002. Statement on impact assessment to the Third Preparatory Committee Meeting of the World Summit on Sustainable Development Principle of Environmental Impact Assessment Best Practice." International Association for Impact Assessment. 2006