scholarly journals WHAT IS WRONG WITH EIA AND SEA ANYWAY? A SCEPTIC'S PERSPECTIVE ON SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT

2006 ◽  
Vol 08 (01) ◽  
pp. 19-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANGUS MORRISON-SAUNDERS ◽  
THOMAS B FISCHER
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Power Relationships ◽  
Environmental Advocacy ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Recent Trends ◽  
Integrated Assessments

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) was initially introduced as an advocacy instrument for the biophysical environment in project decision-making. Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) evolved with a similar mission for strategic level proposals. However, recent trends towards more integration, particularly in the context of sustainability assessment (SA) mean that social and economic aspects are now frequently considered on a par with the environment in impact assessment processes. There are indications that this development will ultimately favour trade-offs towards socio-economic benefits, causing adverse environmental impacts. In this paper, we discuss problems connected with these types of integrated assessments. Based on observations of SA processes are actually environmentally unsustainable, we argue that the need for environment focussed EIA and true SEA in planning processes is now greater than ever. We suggest that until power relationships develop in a way that will allow integration in an environmentally sustainable manner, practitioners should not give up the benefits that have arisen from 35 years of EIA practice. We conclude that in our current world, there is nothing wrong with environmental advocacy — let's continue to use EIA and SEA effectively to protect the environment!

A QUESTION OF BALANCE IN INTEGRATED IMPACT ASSESSMENT: NEGOTIATING AWAY THE ENVIRONMENTAL INTEREST IN AUSTRALIA'S BASSLINK PROJECT

2007 ◽  
Vol 09 (03) ◽  
pp. 273-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
RONLYN DUNCAN ◽  
PETE HAY
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Environmental Capacity ◽  
Infrastructure Project ◽  
World Heritage Area ◽  
Integrated Assessments ◽  
Heritage Area ◽  
Integrated Impact Assessment

It is argued that under the guise of integrated impact assessment, environmental capacity and quality is being eroded rather than enhanced. This proposition is examined in the context of a World Heritage Area and an integrated impact assessment process for a major energy infrastructure project in Australia known as Basslink. The case study, which charts the negotiations that took place between a proponent, environmental researchers, consultants, regulators and decision-makers for an environmental flow for the iconic Gordon River in Tasmania, describes the 'balance' that was struck in the name of sustainable development. It demonstrates that, while social and economic benefits tend to be identified as one and the same, the environment is constituted as an oppositional "good". We argue that this outcome is the rule rather than the exception and caution that integrated assessments could serve to 'fast-track' the loss of environmental capacity and quality.

Malnutrition, Public Health, and Ethics

2019 ◽  
pp. 570-584
Author(s):  
Jessica Fanzo
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Overweight And Obesity ◽  
Micronutrient Deficiencies ◽  
Intergenerational Justice ◽  
Ethical Challenges ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Nutritious Food ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Society Today

A major challenge for society today is how to secure and provide plentiful, healthy, and nutritious food for all in an environmentally sustainable and safe manner, while also addressing the multiple burdens of undernutrition, overweight and obesity, stunting and wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies, particularly for the most vulnerable. There are considerable ethical questions and trade-offs that arise when attempting to address this challenge, centered around integrating nutrition into the food security paradigm. This chapter attempts to highlight three key ethical challenges: the prioritization of key actions to address the multiple burdens of malnutrition, intergenerational justice issues of nutrition-impacted epigenetics, and the consequences of people’s diet choices, not only for humanity but also for the planet.

scholarly journals Neighbourhood Modelling for Urban Sustainability Assessment

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4654
Author(s):  
Javier Orozco-Messana ◽  
Milagro Iborra-Lucas ◽  
Raimon Calabuig-Moreno
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Policy Impact ◽  
Physical Parameters ◽  
Data Repositories ◽  
Digital Twins ◽  
Climate Action

Climate change is becoming a dominant concern for advanced countries. The Paris Agreement sets out a global framework whose implementation relates to all human activities and is commonly guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), which set the scene for sustainable development performance configuring all climate action related policies. Fast control of CO2 emissions necessarily involves cities since they are responsible for 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities) is clearly involved in the deployment of SDG 13 (Climate Action). European Sustainability policies are financially guided by the European Green Deal for a climate neutral urban environment. In turn, a common framework for urban policy impact assessment must be based on architectural design tools, such as building certification, and common data repositories for standard digital building models. Many Neighbourhood Sustainability Assessment (NSA) tools have been developed but the growing availability of open data repositories for cities, together with big-data sources (provided through Internet of Things repositories), allow accurate neighbourhood simulations, or in other words, digital twins of neighbourhoods. These digital twins are excellent tools for policy impact assessment. After a careful analysis of current scientific literature, this paper provides a generic approach for a simple neighbourhood model developed from building physical parameters which meets relevant assessment requirements, while simultaneously being updated (and tested) against real open data repositories, and how this assessment is related to building certification tools. The proposal is validated by real data on energy consumption and on its application to the Benicalap neighbourhood in Valencia (Spain).

scholarly journals Environmental and Social Impact Assessment of Optimized Post-Tensioned Concrete Road Bridges

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vicent Penadés-Plà ◽  
David Martínez-Muñoz ◽  
Tatiana García-Segura ◽  
Ignacio J. Navarro ◽  
Víctor Yepes
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle Stage ◽  
Social Impact Assessment ◽  
Weighting Method ◽  
Ecoinvent Database ◽  
The Social ◽  
Post Tensioned

Most of the definitions of sustainability include three basic pillars: economic, environmental, and social. The economic pillar has always been evaluated but not necessarily in the sense of economic sustainability. On the other hand, the environmental pillar is increasingly being considered, while the social pillar is weakly developed. Focusing on the environmental and social pillars, the use of methodologies to allow a wide assessment of these pillars and the integration of the assessment in a few understandable indicators is crucial. This article is structured into two parts. In the first part, a review of life cycle impact assessment methods, which allow a comprehensive assessment of the environmental and social pillars, is carried out. In the second part, a complete environmental and social sustainability assessment is made using the ecoinvent database and ReCiPe method, for the environmental pillar, and SOCA database and simple Social Impact Weighting method, for the social pillar. This methodology was used to compare three optimized bridges: two box-section post-tensioned concrete road bridges with a variety of initial and maintenance characteristics, and a pre-stressed concrete precast bridge. The results show that there is a high interrelation between the environmental and social impact for each life cycle stage.

The urgent need for health impact assessment: proposing a transdisciplinary approach to the e-waste crisis in sub-Saharan Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinah Tetteh ◽  
Lara Lengel
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Health Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Concern ◽  
Electronic Waste ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
Environmental Communication ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
African Region ◽  
Sub Saharan

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing health and environmental concern in developing countries. In the sub-Saharan African region e-waste is considered a crisis with no end in sight yet; there is lack of structures and regulations to manage the problem. In this article, we discuss the potential of Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in addressing the health, environmental, and social impacts of e-waste in sub-Saharan Africa. We draw from environmental policy, environmental communication, global health policy, and health communication to argue that managing e-waste could be framed as ongoing HIA where all the steps of HIA are performed on a rolling basis with input from local communities. Further, we suggest that HIA should be infused into recycling legislation to help streamline the practice in order to make it safe for health and the environment and to maximize the economic benefits.

scholarly journals Bio-ethanol (2nd Generation Ethanol): A Solution to Ever Polluting Gasoline to Climate in India

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Shruti Mohapatra ◽  
Raj Kishore Mishra ◽  
Khitish K. Sarangi
Keyword(s):  
Ethanol Production ◽  
Lignocellulosic Biomass ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
2Nd Generation ◽  
Production Technologies ◽  
Rapid Pace

Environmentally sustainable energy sources are called for due to contemporaneous development in industries along with the rapid pace of urbanization. Ethanol produced from biomass can be deliberated as a clean and safest liquid fuel and an alternative to fossil fuels as they have provided unique environmental, strategic economic benefits. For the past decade, it has been noticed that there is an increasing trend found in bio ethanol production which has created a stimulus to go for advancement in bio ethanol production technologies. Several feed stocks have been used for the bio ethanol production but the second generation bio ethanol has concentrated on the lignocellulosic biomass. Plenteous lignocellulosic biomass in the world can be tapped for ethanol production, but it will require significant advances in the ethanol production process from lignocellulosic because of some technical and economic hurdles found in commercial scale. This review will encompass the current status of bio ethanol production in terms of their economic and environmental viability along with some research gaps as well as policy implications for the same.

P&G: Providing Sustainable Innovative Products through LCA Worldwide

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raveesh Agarwal ◽  
Monica Thiel
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Product Portfolio ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
The World ◽  
Scientific Approach ◽  
Innovative Products ◽  
Owned Company

Procter and Gamble (P&G) is a publicly owned company which touches the lives of about four billion people around the world with its product portfolio. P&G is committed to improving people’s everyday life by making products more environmentally sustainable. To understand how P&G can make products more environmentally sustainable, the present case focuses on the scientific approach called Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) adopted by P&G to deliver sustainable innovations without trade-offs in performance or value of the products.

Sustainable Urban Development

2011 ◽  
pp. 171-185
Author(s):  
Suharto Teriman ◽  
Tan Yigitcanlar ◽  
Severine Mayere
Keyword(s):  
Urban Development ◽  
Spatial Planning ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Sustainable Resource Use ◽  
Urban Planning And Development ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Planning Development

Sustainable development has long been promoted as the best answer to the world’s environmental problems. This term has generated mass appeal as it implies that both the development of the built environment and its associated resource consumption can be achieved without jeopardising the natural environment. In the urban context, sustainability issues have been reflected in the promotion of sustainable urban development, which emphasises the sensible exploitation of scarce natural resources for urbanisation in a manner that allows future generations to repeat the process. This chapter highlights attempts to promote sustainable urban development through an integration of three important considerations: planning, development and the ecosystem. It highlights the fact that spatial planning processes were traditionally driven by economic and social objectives, and rarely involved promoting the sustainability agenda to achieve a sustainable urban future. As a result, rapid urbanisation has created a variety of pressures on the ecosystem upon which we rely. It is believed that the integration of the urban planning and development processes within the limitations of the ecosystem, monitored by a sustainability assessment mechanism, would offer a better approach to maintaining sustainable resource use without compromising urban development.

scholarly journals Sustainability Assessment in Water Infrastructure Projects—Existing Schemes and Challenges in Application

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 2383
Author(s):  
Sonja Cypra ◽  
Fabian Knepper ◽  
Susanne Kytzia ◽  
Elke Petersson
Keyword(s):  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Stable Solution ◽  
Development Stage ◽  
Water Infrastructure ◽  
Societal Challenges ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Planning Processes ◽  
Methodological Aspects ◽  
Ecological Dimension ◽  
Selection Of

Ecological, economic and societal challenges require decision-making and planning processes aiming at sustainability in water management. Such processes are increasingly informed and supported by sustainability assessment schemes. The focus of this article is on water infrastructure. A selection of national (German) and international assessment schemes is presented and compared. Both interdisciplinary schemes, applicable to a wide range of infrastructure measures, as well as schemes specialized in water infrastructure are considered. In addition to methodological aspects and dissemination, thematic priorities are analyzed and compared. Apart from methodological similarity, specialized schemes tend to be still in the development stage. In contrast, the interdisciplinary schemes have already been used commercially and have been applied in a considerable number of projects. The schemes considered differ significantly in the number of criteria. The interdisciplinary schemes tend to focus more on the ecological dimension while considering a small number of economic criteria. The assessment results depend on various subjective factors and the schemes do not produce true or false results in absolute terms. However, their application can make these factors visible and help identify the most stable solution with regard to different sustainability perspectives.

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