Assessing The Need For A Regional Approach To Environmental Impact Assessment In Southern Africa

This report, based on a draft paper prepared by the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and reviewed by Summit participants, presents the results of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency-sponsored study. The paper offers a framework on how such a network could be organised and operated, and explains how the CEAA has used the framework to develop its site on the Internet. The report is also a contribution to the International Study of the Effectiveness of Environmental Assessment. The document proposes a framework for an EA network and looks at the experience of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency.

This paper draws on Canadian and international experience in the field of environmental assessment (EA) to review key perspectives and approaches for including health considerations as an integral part of the environmental assessment process. It reviews the benefits of including health in EA; the international policy context, current practices, requirements, principles and guidelines regarding the inclusion of health concerns in EA; procedural elements common to inclusion of health in EA, such as project screening, identifying EA issues to be considered, assessing potential health effects, public consultation, determining significance or importance of those effects, and implementing mitigation measures; and key priorities and needs for improving health impact assessment. The appendix includes a summary of European Union environmental health principles.

An Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) is a procedure for evaluating the impact of proposed activities on the environment. In modern Africa, EIAs are a growing reality and a matter of law in 22 sub-Saharan African countries. This volume examines various aspects of EIA legislation in these countries, including: definitions and prescribed activities; public participation and consultation; the review process and the quality of EIA reports; monitoring and enforcement; compatibility; and transboundary issues. It highlights the role and degree of public participation for the further development of EIA law and policy.

In Africa, most major rivers, freshwater lakes, and aquifers are shared by two or more countries. These nations are becoming increasingly vulnerable to conflict, and their vulnerabilities are made more acute by climatic variations in precipitation, increasing urbanization, industrialization and environmental degradation. The concept of resilience and vulnerability as it relates to water resources is tackled in this report within the framework of sustainability and relates to the ability of the human and bio-physical systems to adapt to change.

This unique sourcebook provides a global, state-of-the-art review of the rapidly evolving field of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) that is intended to serve as a baseline for the work of an OECD Task Team on SEA and a UNEP initiative on integrated planning and assessment. It describes trends in application and experience in different contexts worldwide, providing in-depth coverage of the status of SEA systems, and practice in developed, transitional and developing countries by a range of development agencies. The book draws on a large body of published and unpublished material, and contributions from a wide range of individual experts, organizations and agencies. It provides an unparalleled and invaluable understanding of the emerging scope and potential of SEA and describes how, when and where it is being used. The sourcebook includes a probing review of concepts, terminology, approaches and tools of SEA, and a comparative analysis of the different types of existing SEA systems. The volume also contains many case examples illustrating SEA practice in different countries and contexts, a full set of references and a number of appendices containing source materials.

This Guidance volume explains the benefits of using SEA in development co-operation and sets out key steps for its application based on recent experiences.