AN INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
AN INTRODUCTIONTO ENVIRONMENTALASSESSMENT
Copyright 2015 United Nations Environment ProgrammeThe United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC) is the specialistbiodiversity assessment centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the world’s foremost intergovernmentalenvironmental organisation. The Centre has been in operation for over 30 years, combining scientific research with practicalpolicy advice.2This publication may be reproduced for educational or non-profit purposes without special permission, providedacknowledgement to the source is made. Reuse of any figures is subject to permission from the original rights holders.No use of this publication may be made for resale or any other commercial purpose without permission in writing fromUNEP. Applications for permission, with a statement of purpose and extent of reproduction, should be sent to the Director,UNEP-WCMC, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DL, UK.The contents of this report do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of UNEP, contributory organisations or editors.The designations employed and the presentations of material in this report do not imply the expression of any opinionwhatsoever on the part of UNEP or contributory organisations, editors or publishers concerning the legal status of any country,territory, city area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries or the designation of its name,frontiers or boundaries. The mention of a commercial entity or product in this publication does not imply endorsement by UNEP.This report was written by Matthew A. Ling, Ludgarde Coppens, Monika MacDevette, and Abisha Mapendembe.AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to express deep gratitude to the following individuals for their help and guidance in the production ofthis document: Neville Ash, Matthew Billot, Nadine Bowles-Newark, Claire Brown, Charles Davies, Melanie Hutchinson,Dianna Kopansky, Shaoyi Li, Trang Nguyen, Neeyati Patel, Anna Stabrawa, Frank Turyatunga, Mick Wilson, and Ron Witt.Layout: Ralph Design Ltd. www.ralphdesign.co.ukFront cover photo credit: Sandra Cunningham/Shutterstock.comUNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre(UNEP-WCMC)219 Huntingdon Road,Cambridge CB3 0DL, UKTel: 44 1223 277314www.unep-wcmc.orgUNEP promotesenvironmentally soundpractices globally and in itsown activities. Our distributionpolicy aims to reduce UNEP’scarbon footprint.
1. What this guide is forThis brochure is intended for all audiencesconcerned with decision and policy makingin regard to the environment and sustainabledevelopment. There are many different types ofenvironmental assessment methods availableto support decision making at global, regional,national and local levels. As such, this guidesets out to: i ntroduce some ofthe types of environmentalassessment frameworks that are available(with a specific emphasis on those commonlyemployed by the United Nations EnvironmentProgramme (UNEP)) and gives two examples ofcommon assessment types which UNEP doesnot normally undertake*; a ssistthe user to better understand whereand when to consider using one assessmentframework over another;After a short introduction on environmentalassessments in Section 2, examples of keyquestions for stakeholders with an interestin using or conducting an environmentalassessment are provided in section 3. This isfollowed by more detailed outlines of someenvironmental assessment methods in thefactsheets set out in section 5, providing ashort description of each method, some ofits key points, notable examples, and detailsof potential support partners.3We hope this guide can serve as a useful,quick-reference source of information formany audiences, including assessmentpractitioners, representatives of governmentand non-governmental organisations,academics, students, media and experts fromthe private sector. i ntroduce andexplain some of the mostcommonly encountered terminology in thefield of environmental assessments; andwhere and when someof the assessment methods have been used,and refer to some of the key organisationsand partners involved in developing andimplementing the assessments.*N.B. UNEP does not undertake EIA’s or SEA’s under its current programmes of work (2014-2017).Vietnam Photography/Shutterstock.com p rovide examples of
2. Why conduct environmentalassessments?4UNEP 1 defines an assessment as being the entiresocial process of undertaking a critical, objectiveevaluation and analysis of data and information,designed to meet a user’s needs, and to supportdecision making. It applies the judgement ofexperts to new and existing information andknowledge, to provide scientifically credibleanswers to policy-relevant questions, quantifyingwhere possible, confidence levels.Environmental assessment is the processby which the consequences and effects ofnatural processes and human activities uponthe environment are estimated, evaluated orpredicted1. Assessments can include within theirscope ways to minimise, mitigate or eliminatethose effects, and even to compensate for theirimpact1,2. Follow-up programmes to verify theaccuracy of the environmental assessment andthe effectiveness of the proposed mitigationmeasures can also be stipulated within theremit of an assessment2. Box 1 lists some of thefunctions of an assessment.Box 1: Roles and functions ofenvironmental assessmentsSome of the roles and functions fulfilled byconducting an environmental assessmentinclude:– bringing together diverse strands ofknowledge in a way that is useful fordecision making;– strengthening the relationship betweenscience and policy;– providing the means through which scienceinforms decision making;– establishing the importance of the issuebeing assessed;– providing an authoritative analysis of policyrelevant scientific questions;– demonstrating the benefits of policy options;– identifying new research directions;– providing options for technical solutions;– demonstrating the risks and costs of differentpolicy options; and– influencing the goals, interests, beliefs,strategies, resources, and actions of interestedparties which can lead to institutional changeand to changes in the discourse about theissue being assessed.Steve Lovergrove/Shutterstock.comSource: UNEP (2008)3
Some key points regarding environmentalassessment outlined at the 1972 UN Conferenceincluded that it should “facilitate thedevelopment of social and cultural indicatorsfor the environment”, and that “periodic reportson regional or sub-regional situations and onthe international situation”, to feed into nationalreports on the state of, and outlook for, theenvironment, should be carried out. As a resultof this call-out, it is perhaps unsurprising thatthere are many different types of environmentalassessment in use and in development. Theseinclude, but are not limited to, IntegratedEnvironmental Assessment (IEA), Ecosystem Washington State Dept of Transportation 2009CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 courtesy of FlickrEnvironmental assessments have becomekey tools in the environmental managementlandscape. Resolution 2997 of the 1972 UnitedNations (UN) Conference on The HumanEnvironment, Stockholm, stated, in part, thatUNEP “should keep the global environmentunder review”. It is perhaps as follow-on fromthis event, given the emphasis that was placedupon environmental assessment and reporting,that environmental assessment became a morecommon feature of environmental managementas conducted today by various stakeholders, inmeeting a wide range of objectives4.Assessment (EA) and Environmental ValuationAssessments. Throughout the wide range ofenvironmental assessment processes available,all recognise that policy responses are neededfor effective environmental management and/orsustainable use of the environment.An environmental assessment is a planning anddecision making tool2, and as such, the mainpurposes of carrying out an environmentalassessment are two-fold5:immediate aim is to facilitate sounddecision making – those decisions thatexplicitly consider the environment; Dennison Uy 2009 CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 courtesy of Flickr t he u sually(but not universally) they are alsodirected toward achieving or supporting theultimate goals of environmental protectionand sustainable development. These referenceor end goals are variously phrased and framedin environmental assessment legislation andpolicies, as are the specific objectives to be metby the process.5
3. Key questions6The following are examples of key questions toconsider when setting out along the assessmentpathway: W hatis the scale of the assessment?– i.e. global, regional, national or local W hatis the principal ecosystem, habitat,or landscape component to be assessed?– i.e. oceans, freshwater, dry-lands etc. W hatis the main reason for conductingan assessment? – i.e. a disaster (naturallyoccurring or induced by human behaviour),climate change, land-use change, a newconstruction or development projectpotential impacts could result from ‘X’,and how will an assessment help in addressingthese? – e.g. what will the impacts of climatechange be and how will an assessment help inaddressing these impacts? Oscar Garcia 2010 CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 courtesy of Flickr W hat W hatis the timeframe in which the assessmentneeds to take place? – i.e. a rapid assessmentis required in order to assess the consequencesand implications following a natural disastersuch as an earthquake; or if the assessmentis forward-looking it includes scenarios aboutthe future? W illthe assessment need to be repeated? W hatis the legislative or regulatoryrequirement? W ho willbe the main user of the results, andwhat type of information will be most usefulto this actor to inform decision making? W hat sort ofpolicies and decisions will beinformed by the assessment? W hatlevel of certainty is required/howcan the uncertainty related to the assessmentbe communicated?
4. Assessment process and designGlobal assessments of the nature of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)are generally overseen by inter-governmentalgovernance bodies, providing significantlegitimacy for their findings amongst nationalgovernments. At national level, governancestructures can include multi-stakeholder boardscomprising governmental, non-governmentaland private sector stakeholders. Stronggovernmental involvement in assessmentgovernance acts to support the uptake of findingsinto policy.Many of UNEP’s assessments are designed withthe intention of influencing decision-makerswithin the context of Multilateral EnvironmentalAgreements (MEAs) or inter-governmentalbodies such as the United Nations EnvironmentAssembly (UNEA) of UNEP.Global scale assessments can involve high numbersof individuals (1,000 – 2,500), moderate numbers(400 – 900 individuals), or low numbers ( 60individuals)6. This is dependent upon the overallscope of the assessment including geographicalextent/coverage, timescale, underlying theme,and level of scientific sophistication and is oftenrelated to budgetary considerations. Assessmentteams can involve a broad range of stakeholders,including scientific, social and technical experts,indigenous community leaders and policymakers, representing a mix of those carrying outthe assessment, those that will use it and thosewhom it will affect. Environmental assessmentsgenerally have very strong and credible scientificfoundations as a result of the make-up of theassessment teams, and very often from theinvolvement of multi-stakeholder advisory groupsor guidance teams6. Praveen Agrawal 2013 CC BY-ND 3.0 courtesy of FlickrEnvironmental assessments vary not only intheir content and coverage, but also in theirdesign and process. Some assessments aredesigned as a one-off assessment, whereasothers are a part of longer-term on-goingprocesses, or assessments may be requiredin order to fulfil or satisfy planning policy.Some environmental assessments involveexpertise from many disciplines, whilst othersare based on contributions from selective groupsof experts. The breadth of the desired targetaudience also varies considerably betweenassessments.7
The environmental assessment methodspresented within this document cover an arrayof situations and circumstances, ranging fromglobal to local, from the involvement of highnumbers of people in the assessment to maybejust tens of people involved. This great rangeof variation within and between assessmentsis reflected in the variations in costs attachedto the assessment process. At one end of thescale the average cost of a national State of theEnvironment Assessment with engagementof a moderate number of stakeholders over a2-year timeframe may cost in the order ofUS 100,000. On the other hand, globalassessments such as UNEP’s GEO, the GlobalMercury Assessment 2013, or the MillenniumEcosystem Assessment (MA), have costs inthe millions of US , typically engage severalhundred participants/contributors, and takeup to five years to produce7.With many variables at play in environmentalassessment processes, it is very importantto tailor the assessment process to itsobjectives. Emphasis should be placed uponobjective setting, broad inclusive stakeholderparticipation, peer-review, communications,and evaluation, thus maximising the potentialfor assessments that are credible, legitimate,and relevant to decision-makers’ needs.Legend for assessment factsheets:Global scale assessmentRegional scale assessmentNational scale assessmentLocal scale assessmentDe Visu/Shutterstock.com8A variety of conceptual frameworks are used forassessment design and implementation. In manyregional and national assessments, variationsand derivatives of the Drivers-Pressures-StateImpacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework are used.The UNEP “IEA Community Platform” website(www.unep.org/ieacp) provides a useful resourcefor additional information.
5. Environmentalassessment factsheetsAssessmentnameIntegrated EnvironmentalAssessment (IEA)IntroductionIEA analyses environment and human well-being trends and dynamics based on thedrivers-pressures-state-impacts-responses (DPSIR) framework8 (see fig. 1).9IEA is an interdisciplinary assessment that links knowledge and action in publicpolicy/decision contexts. It aims to identify, analyse and appraise all relevant naturaland human processes and their interactions which determine both the currentand future state of environmental quality and resources on appropriate spatial andtemporal scales3,9.Key features3 A participatory and structured approach to linking science to policy10.3 Explores, through scenarios, how current social, economic and environmentaltrends may unfold along divergent development paths in the future, and potentialimpacts for the environment, human well-being and development (Outlook).3 Aims to improve decision making capacity by giving policy-makers (and otherstakeholders) clear guidance on how to better manage the environment.3 A way of analysing and communicating environment-society interactions9.Key questionsWhat is happening to the environment and why? What are the consequences forthe environment and humanity? What is being done and how effective is it? Whereare we heading? What actions could be taken for a more sustainable future?Examples– Global Environment Outlook (GEO) (http://www.unep.org/geo/)– Africa Environment Outlook 3 (AEO-3) (http://www.unep.org/pdf/aeo3.pdf)– GEO Panama (http://www.pnuma.org/deat1/pdf/GEO Panama 2014.pdf)Some resources– United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) IEA Community Platform(http://www.unep.org/ieacp/)– United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) IEA Training – GRID Arendal (http://www.grida.no/about/services.aspx)– International Institute for Sustainable Development nt/capacity.asp)Yory Frenklakh/Shutterstock.comIEA integrates the three main pillars of sustainable development into its analysis:social, economic and environmental issues. IEA aims to highlight the cause-effectlinkages of both human and natural actions upon the environment, and in turn, thechanges in the state of the environment and human well-being. IEA should givepolicy-makers and other stakeholders clear guidance on how to better managethe environment4.
GlobalRegionalLocalHUMAN SOCIETYDRIVERS (D):Material, Human and Social CapitalIMPACTS (I):Change in human well-beingbroadly defined as human freedoms of choiceand actions, to achieve, inter alia:SecurityBasic material needsGood health Good social relations Demographics Economic processes (consumption,production, markets and trade) Scientific and technological innovation Distribution pattern processes (inter-andintra-generational) Cultural, social, political and institutional(including production and service sectors)processesRESPONSES (R) toenvironmental challenges: Formal and informal adaption to, and migrationof, environmental change (includingrestoration) by altering human activity anddevelopment patterns within and betweenthe D, P and I boxes through inter alia: scienceand technology, policy, law and institutions. which may result in human development orpoverty, inequity and human vulnerability.Demographic, social (institutional)and material factors determininghuman well-beingPRESSURES (P):ENVIRONMENTHuman interventions in theenvironment:Environmental factors determininghuman well-beingEcological services such as provisioningservices (consumptive use), cultural services(non-consumptive use), regulating servicesand supporting services (indirect use) Non-ecosystem natural resources ie hydrocarbons, minerals and renewable energy Stress, inter alia diseases, pests, radiationand hazards STATE-AND-TRENDS (S):Land use Resource extraction External inputs (fertilizers, chemicals,irrigration) Emissions (pollutants and waste) Modification and movement of organisms Natural capital:atmosphere, land, water and biodiversityEnvironmental impacts and change:Climate change and depletion of thestratospheric ozone layerBiodiversity change Pollution, degradation and/or depletionof air, water, minerals and land (includingdesertification) Natural processes: Solar 7Outlook20072015 (short-term)2050 (medium-term)(Long-term)Figure 1: The drivers-pressures-state-impacts-responses framework (source: Pinter et al., 20088, after GlobalEnvironment Outlook 4 (GEO-4))Niels van Gijn/Shutterstock.com10Human development:
AssessmentnameEcosystem Assessment (EA)IntroductionAn Ecosystem Assessment evaluates the consequences of ecosystem change onhuman well-being, which provides the scientific basis for actions needed to enhancethe conservation and sustainable use of those systems and their contributions(ecosystem services) to human well-being11. Assessments of ecosystem services needto “consider both the ecosystems from which the services are derived and the peoplewho depend on, and are affected by changes in the supply of services”, therebyconnecting environmental and development sectors12.Ecosystem Assessments play numerous roles to support decision making, including:11– r esponding to decision-makers’ needs for information;–h ighlighting trade-offs between decision options;–m odelling future prospects to avoid unforeseen long-term consequences;–p roviding critical judgment of options and outlining uncertainty; and– s ynthesising and communicating complex information on relevant issues12.In addition, Ecosystem Assessments provide value by:Key features3 Provides the connection between environmental issues and people12, specifically inrelation to human well-being.3 Provides scientific information concerning the consequences of ecosystem changefor human well-being, and options for responding to those changes13.3 Can identify trade-offs between ecosystem services; these trade-offs can bepositive or negative.Key questionsWhat are the current spatial extent an
After a short introduction on environmental assessments in Section 2, examples of key questions for stakeholders with an interest in using or conducting an environmental assessment are provided in section 3. This is followed by more detailed outlines of some environmental assessment methods in the factsheets set out in section 5, providing a
work/products (Beading, Candles, Carving, Food Products, Soap, Weaving, etc.) ⃝I understand that if my work contains Indigenous visual representation that it is a reflection of the Indigenous culture of my native region. ⃝To the best of my knowledge, my work/products fall within Craft Council standards and expectations with respect to
Environmental Impact Statements (EIS’s) Small proportion of federal actions require an Environmental Impact Statement EIS’s Environmental Assessments (EA’s) (Initial Environmental Impact Assessment) About 50,000 annually (Environmental Impact Assessment) About 5-600 annually EAs 7 Categorical ExclusionsCategorical Exclusions
A. (2005). Introduction to Environmental Impact Assessment (3rd Ed), pp 125-155. [4] International Environmental Law and Policy Consultant with the Canadian Institute for Environmental, Law and Policy-CIELAP. [5] Jay, S. Jones, C. Slinn, P. and Wood, C. (2007). Environmental Impact Assessment: Retrospect and prospect.
assessment. In addition, several other educational assessment terms are defined: diagnostic assessment, curriculum-embedded assessment, universal screening assessment, and progress-monitoring assessment. I. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT . The FAST SCASS definition of formative assessment developed in 2006 is “Formative assessment is a process used
environmental impact assessment, land use planning, pollution and climate change, environmental education, environmental law and policy, environmental engineering, and environmental design. As such, the volume will be useful to anyone interested in solutions to today's turbulent environmental situation.
What are environmental health impacts? 6 What is an EHIA? 7 Why conduct an EHIA? 9 EHIA in the Policy Context 10 EHIA in the Assessment Context 11 Understanding Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures in South Africa 12 Who conducts an Environmental Impact Assessment and an EHIA 13 PART 2: THE STAGES IN
viii / Strategic Environmental Assessment at the Policy Level Preface The Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment (Protocol on SEA) was adopted by the Parties to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (the 'Espoo Convention')1 at their extraordinary meeting in Kiev (Ukraine) on 21 May 2003.
Abrasive Jet Micro Machining (AJMM) is a relatively new approach to the fabrication of micro structures. AJMM is a promising technique to three-dimensional machining of glass and silicon in order to realize economically viable micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) It employs a mixture of a fluid (air or gas) with abrasive particles. In contrast to direct blasting, the surface is exposed .
