Environmental Impact Assessment:

• Principle 17 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development defined Environmental Impact Assessment, as a rational instrument, shall be undertaken for proposed activities that are likely to have a significant adverse impact on the environment and are subject to a decision of a competent national authority.
• Environmental impact assessment is:

a) A planning tool that is now generally regarded as an integral component of sound decision making.

b) Defined as a formal process used to predict the environmental consequences of any development project.

c) A planning tool whose main purpose is: “to give the environment its due place in the decision making process by clearly evaluating the environmental consequences of a proposed activity before action is taken.

d) A tool used to identify the environmental, social and economic impacts of a project prior to decision-making.

The International Association for Impact Assessment (IAIA) defines an environmental impact assessment as “the process of identifying, predicting, evaluating and mitigating the biophysical, social, and other relevant effects of development proposals prior to major decisions being taken and commitments made.”

Why EIA?

• to ensure proposals are assessed to determine whether they are environmentally sound and sustainable.
• to minimize or prevent adverse impacts alongside the maximization of positive outcomes of a proposal.

Core Values of EIA

a) Sustainability: the EIA process should result in environmental safeguards.

b) Integrity: the EIA process will conform to agreed standards.

c) Utility: the EIA process will provide balanced, credible information for decision-making.