Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

An environmental impact assessment is an assessment of the possible impact – positive or negative – that a proposed project may have on the environment; considering natural, social and economic aspects. It is a procedure that ensures that the environmental implications of decisions are taken into account before the decisions are made and can be undertaken for individual projects as well as for plans, programmes and policies.
The process purpose of an environmental assessment is to:

• identify possible environmental effects
• propose measures to mitigate adverse effects
• predict whether there will be significant adverse environmental effects, even after the mitigation is implemented

Environmental assessment should be conducted as early as possible in the planning and proposal stages of a project for the analysis to be valuable to decision makers and to incorporate the mitigative measures into the proposed plans.

Timely and efficient environmental assessments result in more informed decision making that supports sustainable development.

By considering environmental effects and mitigating environmental risks early in the project planning cycle, environmental assessment have many benefits, such as:

• an opportunity for public participation
• increased protection of human health
• the sustainable use of natural resources
• reduced project costs and delays
• minimized risks of environmental disasters
• increased government accountability