scholarly journals Health Impact Assessment as an Essential Element of Environmental Law in the National Legal Order. Considerations on the Basis of International Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-208
Author(s):  
Maciej Pakowski ◽  
◽  
Anna Garus-Pakowska ◽  

The purpose of this paper was to prove that the standards for environmental friendliness set out by international law require the states to carry out Health Impact Assessment (HIA) before implementation of public or private investments having a potential human health impact even if national legal systems do not require it. The analysis of both soft international law and treaty law, as well as the case-law of international courts and tribunals show that Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the international law ius cogens. At the same time the human right to information and protection of life and health are regarded as fundamental human rights. According to the authors it means that carrying out proper Environmental Impact Assessment without Health Impact Assessment is not possible. It would be contrary to the human right to information and the obligation of the authorities to provide citizens with active transparency mentioned by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and with the principle of fair balance developed in the case-law of the similar European Court together with the objective on sustainable development adopted in Agenda 2030. According to the authors Health Impact Assessment is an immanent and integral part of environmental impact and the possible absence of provisions in the national law requiring investors to carry out HIA where EIA is necessary, does not justify the failure to assess.

2013 ◽  
Vol 807-809 ◽  
pp. 286-289
Author(s):  
Lin Wang ◽  
Hong Guang Cheng ◽  
Xue Lian Liu ◽  
Jing Xie

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) and Health Impact Assessment (HIA) both play important roles in environmental and human health protection in many counties as well as in China. Some developed countries have mature experiences on integrating HIA into EIA for years from which we can learn. In this paper, the necessity, obstacles of Chinese EIA are analyzed and follow-up work is recommended. China should carry out related research, and gradually realize the integration of EIA and HIA.


2004 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 1153-1186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian L. Cole ◽  
Michelle Wilhelm ◽  
Peter V. Long ◽  
Jonathan E. Fielding ◽  
Gerald Kominski ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Cristine dos Santos Nothaft ◽  
Nunzia Linzalone ◽  
Maria Assunta Busato

Abstract To identify and analyze the contents of scientific literature on Health Impact Assessment in relation to the environment. An integrative literature review carried out by searching for studies in the Periodicals Portal of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel. A total of 38 studies were included; the period with the greatest number of publications was between 2012 and 2014, with studies developed mainly in Europe and North America. The categories that emerged were Health Impact Assessment practice; Health Impact Assessment and Urban Planning; Environmental Impact Assessment and Health Impact Assessment; and Environment and Health. There is a movement for the integration of Health Impact Assessment into Environmental Impact Assessment and the consequent institutionalization of that integration since Environmental Impact Assessment already has a consolidated legal base.


Polar Record ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Bronson ◽  
Bram F. Noble

The need to address the human health implications of northern development is well founded, and the role of health determinants in environmental impact assessment is increasingly recognised; however, there is limited understanding of the nature of health determinants and current practices in northern project assessment and decision making. This paper reports on a study of the nature and use of health determinants in Canadian northern environmental impact assessment, and discusses the key challenges to, and opportunities for, improved practice. Four themes emerged from this study. First, the consideration of health is limited to physical environments and the physical determinants of health, with limited attention to broader social and cultural health determinants. Second, when health is considered in northern project impact assessments such considerations rarely carry forward to post-project approval monitoring of health determinants and evaluation of health impact management programmes. Third, while there is general consensus that health determinants should be an integral part of northern impact assessment, there exist different expectations of the role of health determinants in project evaluation and decision making due in large part to different understandings and interpretations of health. Finally, a broader conceptualisation of health and health determinants in northern environmental impact assessment is required; one that takes into consideration northern cultures and knowledge systems, and is adaptive to local context, geography and life cycles.


Author(s):  
Malgosia Fitzmaurice

This chapter analyses the concept of due diligence in the law of international watercourses. Both conventions and the case-law give some indications on the constitutive elements of the standard of due diligence in this area. The chapter reveals that due diligence provides a legal tool to balance the principle of equitable and reasonable utilisation and the principle of no harm. It also highlights that due diligence is the basis of procedural obligations in this field, such as the duty to exchange information or the duty to conduct an environmental impact assessment. The chapter however argues that the unspecified content of these norms and the lack of uniformity in their application render it impossible to draw consistent and holistic conclusions on due diligence in the field of watercourses law.


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