Impact assessment: from whale to shark

ABSTRACT

My vision for good future impact assessment (IA) involves 1. IAs testing the impacts of the plan/project against environmental standards; 2. IAs applying the precautionary principle to impacts that are already globally problematic, with the assumption that those impacts are significant until the IA can show that they are not; 3. Making IA recommendations legally binding; and 4. Better scoping to allow IA to focus on only key impacts. These changes would turn IA from a (baleen) whale – imposing but toothless – into a sleek and effective shark.

KEYWORDS:

• Environmental standard
• precautionary principle
• key impacts
• impact assessment
• future

Notes

1. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/reports/2016/11/01/291509/no-net-loss/.