Environmental Impact Assessment in Developing Countries: an Overview

Developing country environmental impact assessment (EIA) dates back to the mid-1970s and, although it varies significantly from country to country, its performance generally falls far behind that of EIA in developed countries. It is crucial that this performance be improved in order to help to protect the environment of three quarters of the world’s land area. This paper reviews developing country EIA against a set of robust evaluation criteria to determine its strengths and weaknesses. These relate to: legal basis; coverage; consideration of alternatives; screening; scoping; EIA report preparation; EIA report review; decision-making; impact monitoring; mitigation; consultation and participation; system monitoring; costs and benefits; and strategic environmental assessment. Because developing country EIA meets so few of the 14 evaluation criteria, several urgent generic issues need to be addressed if EIA is to fulfil its potential. These include legislation, organisational capacity, training, environmental information, participation, diffusion of experience, donor policy and political will.