Denis Kirchhoff

CAPACITY BUILDING FOR EIA IN BRAZIL: PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS AND PROBLEMS TO BE OVERCOME

In Brazil, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been part of the environmental legislation since 1981 when the Brazilian National Environmental Policy (BNEP) was established. The BNEP established several tools intended to reconcile socio-economic development with environment conservation. More than twenty years have passed, and what is still seen in general is a need for improved capacity to implement these instruments to their full extent, particularly because of the lack of integration among these tools and, in many instances, a lack of the necessary levels of power and resources to enforce the very instruments that are aimed at integrating environmental concerns into decision-making. A brief background about the EIA process in Brazil is introduced, as well as regional examples of Capacity Building (CB) initiatives undertaken. Finally, a systemic approach to build EIA capacity is presented. The main conclusion is that CB is needed to effectively implement EIA components in Brazil and a systemic approach might offer improved outcomes to achieve desired levels of EIA capacity.

Reading between the lines of the ‘Responsible Resource Development’ rhetoric: the use of omnibus bills to ‘streamline’ Canadian environmental legislation

In Canada, the use of omnibus budget bills in recent years has grown substantially. In 2012, it was used twice by the Government of Canada. As a result, a number of substantial changes to environmental legislation were introduced with virtually no debate nor compromise. This situation has been criticized for seriously reducing the credibility of the budget process and the authority of Parliament in Canada, as well as undermining the transparency and accountability of the policy-making process. This paper describes how changes to major policies through the use of omnibus bills (all, arguably, in the name of faster project review decisions) affect not only established environmental protection efforts, but also the public and Aboriginal (First Nations, Inuit and Metis) peoples, particularly in terms of their capacity to effectively participate in resource development.

Pipeline risk assessment and risk acceptance criteria in the State of Sao Paulo, Brazil

This paper discusses the use of risk assessment (RA) for analyzing the environmental suitability of natural gas pipelines and highlights RAs linkages with environmental impact assessment. The paper contends that RA is an essential tool when assessing the suitability of gas pipelines, and that risks associated with such proposed activities should be used as fundamental criteria to determine route selection. By doing so, fatality risks related to pipeline failures can be reduced. The paper also contends that the risk acceptance criteria adopted by the State of Sao Paulo are overly permissive when compared to other criteria used around the world. Therefore, the State should consider revising and strengthening its risk acceptance criteria to be up-to-date with international standards.

A POLICY WINDOW OPENS: STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT IN YORK REGION, ONTARIO, CANADA

Government agenda setting has been a focus of research in the field of policy sciences for over two decades. The concept of a policy window is explored as a driver of governmental agenda setting. The Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada was chosen as a case study for exploring the application of strategic environmental assessment at the municipal level through a policy window lens. Problem, policy and political streams converged to provide the necessary conditions for improved environmental assessment and infrastructure planning in York Region. A focusing event and the resulting crisis motivated stakeholders to identify and act on the problem. An SEA-type approach was initiated as one key response. A variety of activities were initiated by York Region including the development of a Sustainability Strategy, synchronisation of master planning, wider consideration of alternatives at the master plan level and improved public consultation. Conclusions are drawn and several recommendations are presented and discussed.

Strategic environmental assessment and regional infrastructure planning: the case of York Region, Ontario, Canada

Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) is seen as an instrument that is essential to realizing sustainability goals that transcend project-level undertakings (e.g. policies, plans and programmes). The purpose of this case-based, collaborative research was to extend practical and theoretical understanding of SEA to the related, but in practice poorly coordinated, processes of project-level environmental assessment (EA), master planning and regional land use planning. Semi-structured key informant interviews and review of policy documents were used as the main sources of qualitative data to explore the key events that have led to an emerging strategic approach to planning and EA in York Region. This research contributes to the application of SEA at the municipal level, and highlights the importance of an SEA-type approach as a contribution to better informed, tiered and integrated planning and decision making that is underpinned by sustainability.

Indigenous capacity for collaboration in Canada’s energy, forestry and mining sectors: research metrics and trends

This paper examines patterns in recently published research addressing Indigenous capacity for collaborative natural resource development in Canada’s forestry, energy, and mining sectors. As Indigenous involvement in natural resource development increases, so too does the body of associated scholarship. We gathered information on several core metrics (year of publication, authorship, and gender, author affiliation, journal titles, citation counts and impacts factors, and keywords) to analyze research output, trends, and gaps. Our bibliometric analysis of 49 articles from peer-reviewed journals confirms that Indigenous natural resource development and capacity research has steadily increased over the past decade in terms of the number and range of papers, authors, institutions, and cases examined. Research output peaked in 2013 and 2015. Authorship is distributed evenly between male and female lead researchers, with teams located across southern Canada, with highest concentrations in urban population centers of British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario. In contrast, the research sites are located in more northern, rural, and remote locations. That communities and projects under study are not currently matched with sites of research capacity raises questions about capacity building and the nature of research “on” versus “with” Indigenous peoples. Policies and programs designed to enhance Indigenous involvement and capacity must address these asymmetries in order to be representative, effective, and responsive to current Indigenous priorities.