This book provides a detailed treatment of the ecological, economic and social impacts in the context of environmental impact assessment (EIA) and makes clear the necessary link between EIA and the sustainability principles of protecting biodiversity, risk aversion, and inter and intra-generational equity. It proposes that the benefits and costs of a project need to be weighted according to who bears them, giving particular attention to the planets poor. Furthermore, this book presents a comprehensive analysis of environmental offsetting which has come to be commonly resorted to when negative impacts cannot be mitigated. In this context, the book argues that offsetting is only viable if advanced offsets are quarantined through a Strategic Environmental Impact approach. Finally, the book explores the role of the various disciplines which need to be mastered in undertaking an EIA.
This book takes you on a journey from the beginning of environmental impact assessment to the present day. It is a scholarly warts and all study. For each trial and tribulation, Hundloe presents a remedy. It is essential reading and an invaluable reference for environmental practitioners, politicians, policy makers, academics and, the most important group, future environmental practitioners.
Part I The Background to Environmental Impact Assessment.- 1
Environmental Impact Assessment: The Awakening.- 2 Linking EIA to the
Principles of Sustainable Development.- 3 Sustainability Perspectives:
Ecological, Economic and Social.- 4 EIA Laws and Policies: From NEPA to the
World.- Part II Tightening the Nuts and Bolts of EIA.- 5 If We Dont Need The
Project, Dont Build It.- 6 The Special Case of Mining.- 7 Whose Need and at
What Cost?.- 8 Maslow and the Need to Survive.- 9 Distorting Need.- 10
Project Alternatives and Other EIA Principles.- 11 Ethical Dilemmas in EIA.-
12 Public Involvement.- 13 The Baselines and Uncertainty.- Part III
Offsetting Environmental Damage.- 14 The Principles of Offsetting.- 15 Can We
Convert Biodiversity into Dollars?.- 16 Illustrating Offsets.- Part IV What
Is to Be Done?.- 17 Faults to Fix in the EIA Game.- 18 Improving the Quality
of EIAs: Professionalism.- 19 Specialist and Generalist Earth Doctors.-20 The
A to Z of Environmental Qualifications
Tor Hundloe is a pioneer of environmental impact assessment. He is Emeritus Professor at the University of Queensland, Australia and an original staff member of the worlds first environmental school, at Griffith University. His research has taken him to environmental hot spots around the world. He has the prestigious Order of Australia.
