Long term objectives of EIA are to protect human health and safety avoid

Long term objectives of EIA are to: ✓ protect human health and safety; ✓ avoid irreversible changes and serious damage to the environment; ✓ safeguard valued resources, natural areas and ecosystem components; and ✓ enhance the social aspects of the proposal.

History of EIA ➢ For instance, in 1947 in the United Kingdom (UK ), the first Town and Country Planning Act enabled the local planning authority to take environmental factors into consideration in sanctioning development proposals. ➢ During the 1960s , the public increasingly became concerned that environmental quality could not be adequately maintained by market-orientated industries or single-issue regulating agencies who dealt with only one aspect of the environment.

Major environmental issues in developing regions ➢ Africa ▪ world's poorest and most resource dependent population. ▪ highest health burden due to severe environmental problems ▪ desertification and soil degradation, declining food security, increasing water scarcity ➢ Asia and the Pacific ▪ high population densities in Southern and South East Asia ▪ increased pressure on land and water resources ▪ widespread environmental degradation and high pollution ▪ mega-cities are a particular focus of environmental and health concerns ➢ Eastern Europe and Central Asia ▪ legacy of industrial pollution and contaminated land ▪ emissions of particulates, SO2, lead, heavy metals and toxic chemicals ➢ Latin America and the Caribbean ▪ many cities are poor, overcrowded, polluted and lack basic infrastructure. ▪ destruction of tropical forests and consequent loss of biodiversity in the Amazon basin ➢ Middle East ▪ land is either subject to desertification or low nutrient deposition ▪ water resources are under severe pressure ▪ rapid and uncontrolled urbanisation has caused worsening air and water pollution

Typology of environmental impacts ➢ Environmental impacts can vary in: ▪ type – biophysical, social, health or economic ▪ nature – direct or indirect, cumulative, etc. ▪ magnitude or severity – high, moderate, low ▪ extent – local, regional, transboundary or global ▪ timing – immediate/long term ▪ duration – temporary/permanent ▪ uncertainty – low likelihood/high probability ▪ reversibility – reversible/irreversible ▪ significance – unimportant/important

Guiding principles of EIA good practice • Purposive – EIA should meet its aims of informing decision making and ensuring an appropriate level of environmental protection and human health.